Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal batted for engagement of professionals in handling Government’s various projects while advocating a public debate on whether the country should be run by professionals or bureaucrats.
Kejriwal said the AAP Government had appointed an engineer as PWD Secretary and a doctor as Health Secretary who did a brilliant job, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi “removed” them and posted bureaucrats instead. Three days back, lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung had removed non-IAS cadre officers Sarvagya Srivastava from the post of PWD Secretary and Tarun Seem as Health Secretary following the High Court order that stamped the primacy of the lt-Governor in the city administration.
“We appointed an engineer as PWD secy n a doc as health secy. They did a brilliant job. Modi ji removed them n posted bureaucrats instead. There shud be a public debate-Shud country be run by professionals or bureaucratsIJ (sic)” Kejriwal tweeted.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of engineers’ bodies of various agencies, including municipal corporations, NDMC, PWD and DJB met Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia and expressed their “displeasure” over removal of technocrats from key posts. The associations said they will soon meet l-G Najeeb Jung and register their protest over the removal of technocrats from the post of PWD Secretary.
“Engineers’ bodies said that Delhi Government’s initiative of following ISRO and DMRC had shown visible results in performance of PWD,” said a senior Delhi Government official.