Hitting out against the bureaucracy, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said “90% of IAS officers don’t work” and that they tend to create obstacles when it comes to getting work done.
Speaking to a crowd of pensioners of the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board, Mr. Kejriwal said the government had made sure that the pensioners would get their long-pending dues as well as cashless health insurance. But, he said, he had heard that officers were creating obstacles for the implementation of the cashless scheme, telling the crowd that they would have to visit his office to get it done.
He said that when he wanted to make all contractual employees of the New Delhi Municipal Council permanent staff, the officers told him that employees stop working when they are regularised.
“I said that if working is the criteria, first IAS officers should be made temporary staff. Eighty per cent of them don’t work,” said Mr. Kejriwal, to applause from the crowd.
He went on to add that officers tended to hold up files, raising objections. “If 10% of the Group C or Group D staff doesn’t work, then 90% of IAS officers don’t work,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Mr. Kejriwal said he felt Delhi’s development was “stuck” at the secretariat.
