Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash on Tuesday attended a meeting involving Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues for the first time after he was allegedly assaulted by two MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party over a week ago at a meet called at the chief minister's residence.
Ever since the alleged physical attack on Prakash, officials in the Delhi government have been in protest mode, refusing to attend meetings where ministers are present and not having any verbal communication with the ministers. The officers have been communicating with the ministers only through comments noted in the files.
However, Prakash and some other officials on Tuesday made an exception when they attended a cabinet meeting called to decide the dates for the Budget Session of the Delhi Assembly. It was decided that the Budget Session will be held from March 16 to March 28.
The chief secretary wrote to Kejriwal prior to the meeting, saying that since finalising the dates of the Budget Session and passing of the budget are important for functioning of the government, he and his officer colleagues would attend the meet.
Prakash, however, expressed the hope that the chief minister would ensure no harm was done to the officers. “This is based on the assumption that the CM will ensure that there is no physical attack and verbal assault on the officers,” he wrote.
He also wrote that he hoped that in the meeting, proper decorum would be maintained and dignity of the officers would be protected.
According to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the Cabinet was unhappy with Prakash for purportedly failing to act on the last Cabinet meeting's decision to inquire into faulty implementation of the ration distribution system. “The Cabinet regretted that the chief secretary had in the last one week not done anything on this. He was today ordered to inquire into it within two weeks,” he said.
Prakash was also asked to come to the cabinet on March 1 with a proposal for doorstep delivery of rations.
The joint forum of officers of the Delhi government, meanwhile, are still sticking to their demand for a specific written public apology from the chief minister and deputy chief minister for the alleged attack on Prakash to resume normal functioning.
Kejriwal has publicly admitted that the work of the Delhi government was getting affected because of the officers' protest. He and his cabinet colleagues met Lt Governor Anil Baijal last week, seeking his intervention in getting officers to end their protest.
On Monday, Sisodia wrote to Baijal, expressing concern over the government's work suffering due to the bureaucrats' boycott of ministers.