On 13 June, protesting the undemocratic manner in which the state government in Delhi has been brought to a grinding halt by a toxic molotov, all Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators and Members of Parliament (MPs), thousands of Delhi-ites, political veterans like Yashwant Sinha and senior functionaries from across the political spectrum marched towards the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi (L-G).
This was to support Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, and his Cabinet’s sit-in andolan.
Take a look at what Delhi government is pitted against: an overweening and unelected L-G who tries to run Delhi as his personal sultanante; status quoist IAS officers; and last but not the least, the political overlords at the centre who have been unable to digest the bitter pill of humiliating drubbing that Kejriwal doled out to them in the winter of 2015.
Why is Kejriwal Protesting?
For the past four months, the local bureaucracy in Delhi has been on an unprecedented strike, to protest against the alleged assault of Delhi’s Chief Secretary by two AAP MLAs. Delhi Police has so far failed to produce a chargesheet against the said MLAs.None of the IAS officers attend meetings with the Chief Minister or his Cabinet.
In light of this, three basic demands have been put forth by Arvind Kejriwal:
(a) That all IAS officers immediately end their strike and start attending meetings with ministers so that execution of critical public welfare projects and schemes is not affected.
(b) That all truant and unscrupulous IAS officers, who have instigated the strike and exacerbated the deadlock with the political executive, be brought to task and the L-G, being the administrative head of ‘Services’, should ensure that something like this never happens in the future.
(c) That the L-G, instead of resorting to circumlocutory file notings, should immediately approve the AAP government’s scheme of ‘Doorstep Delivery of Ration’, which aims to overhaul the leaky and inefficient public distribution system (PDS) in Delhi by delivering the monthly ration supplies at the doorstep of ration card holders — a majority of which are people living below the property line.
Facts Bear Out Kejriwal’s Position
In a poorly and hastily drafted verbose rebuttal, the IAS Association made no bones about not attending important meetings with the elected chief minister and the Cabinet.
Is this not a clear and unbridled violation of Clause 7 of the Central Civil Services (CCS) Conduct Rules, 1964, which expressly states:
“…no government servant shall resort to or in any way abet any form of strike or coercion…” and “no government servant shall resort to practices or conduct which is likely to result in the cessation or substantial retardation of work”.Central Civil Services (CCS) Conduct Rules, 1964
What’s more, Clause 7(3) states that “Government servants who resort to action of the above kind violate Conduct Rules and disciplinary action can be taken against them”.
What is stopping the L-G from penalising officers who are responsible for this strike?
Despite the vehemence with which the IAS Association is trying to proclaim that there is no strike in Delhi, it is an accepted fact that important projects have been stuck in Delhi due to the intransigence of officers.
An example: Delhi has 1,797 Unauthorised Colonies (UCs) which are in dire need of infrastructure development – roads, drains, and sewage – all of which were in absentia during the ineffective Congress rule of the past 15 years in Delhi. Kejriwal’s government announced a massive fund infusion to the tune of ₹1,500 crores for this and set a stringent deadline of one year for the officers to finish this work.
However, the babus never prepared an action plan and the minimal information submitted to the chief minister on UCs was riddled with suspicious discrepancies. As such, today the work in UCs has either come to a standstill or is moving at an extremely serpentine pace.
Over the past couple of months, numerous ‘shadow’ Twitter handles have been set up by ‘apolitical’ IAS Associations to expend political views antithetical to the AAP and favourable to the BJP. Heck, some of their tweets even included articles written on fake news and pro-BJP sites.
Is it not true that this open and public display of animosity by officers towards the political executive is a violation of the Section 7 of The All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, which expressly prohibits criticism of the government through mediums of public communication? What is stopping the L-G from taking action?
In a CAG report tabled in the Delhi Assembly in April, it was found that there existed extreme lapses and gross irregularities in the Public Distribution System of Delhi. Kejriwal had cried himself hoarse proclaiming the same in the months prior and had formulated a scheme wherein ration would be delivered at the doorstep of citizens — thus eliminating unnecessary red tape, human touch-points and the accompanying corruption. The file was then sent to the L-G for his customary approval. However, as be his wont, the L-G rejected the proposal citing flimsy grounds.
Is this not an example of gross injustice to the poorest of the poor – the underclass of Delhi – which depends on rations from the government for daily subsistence? Is not the L-G responsible for this?
Fight for the Soul of Democracy
Sophisticated analysis shows that AAP is rapidly emerging as a credible alternative to the ruling BJP. What works for AAP is that it is not bound by regional, religious and caste-based equations. Its egalitarian ideology of welfare for the common man has increased its appeal manifold — to the Left, Centre and Right. Other than the BJP, AAP is the only continuously growing party in contemporary India.
This is what rattles the BJP which sees in Kejriwal a worthy challenger unlike the craven Congress. And handicapping Kejriwal’s government is the best tool in BJP’s arsenal, no matter the irreversible harm being inflicted on the constitutional ethos of federalism and the repugnant repudiation of an overwhelming electoral mandate of 67/70 assembly seats.
It is truly a Machiavellian tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
(Pranav Jain works with the AAP and Delhi Government on key issues. He can be reached on Twitter at @pranavj142. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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