Protesting officials, commotion in the corridors and a Cabinet meeting shifted out of the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday was the aftermath of an alleged attack on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs.
Though they did not declare an official strike, officials of the Delhi Administrative Subordinate Services (DASS) and Stenographer cadres sat on a dharna outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office on the third floor of the Secretariat, demanding an apology for the alleged attack.
‘Attack’ on AAP leaders
Mr. Prakash was allegedly attacked by AAP MLAs in Mr. Kejriwal’s residence on Monday night.
During the protests at the Secretariat, AAP leader Ashish Khetan and Environment and Forest Minister Imran Hussain were allegedly roughed up.
“I had gone to work like any normal day. When I was getting out of the elevator, I was attacked by some people. If I see them again, I will be able to identify them,” said the Minister.
Acting on Mr. Hussain’s complaint, the police lodged an FIR under Indian Penal Code Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 427 (causing damage) and 34 (common intention).
‘Didn’t attack anyone’
The protesting workers denied that they had been involved in attacking the Minister and his additional private secretary Himanshu. “We had nothing to do with that. Yes, there was some sloganeering, but we did not attack anyone,” said Deepak Bhardwaj, the general secretary of the Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association and a DASS cadre official.
Meanwhile, with staff crowding in the foyer and outside the CM’s office, work on the upper floors of the Secretariat was hit.
A scheduled meeting of the Cabinet had to be shifted to the Chief Minister’s residence, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
A senior official, however, said “no work was affected” and the scheduled paper work in addition to “activities related to delivery of public services continued to be discharged” across “all government departments.”
Candlelight march
Later, the protesting officers carried out a march at Rajghat in protest against the alleged assault on the Chief Secretary. In a statement issued by the IAS, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) and DASS associations, the officers said they would carry on working in their offices in public interest, but demanded action against those involved.
The officers’ associations said they condemned the “false, fabricated and malicious misinformation campaign to cover up the incident”. In the statement, the associations said if the meeting was called to discuss problems with the public distribution system, as the AAP claimed, then why was the Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Mr. Hussain, not present.
(With inputs from Saurabh Trivedi)
