Arvind Kejriwal’s advisor, VK Jain, in multiple statements to police has said he witnessed the assault on Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash on February 19.
The Delhi government has proposed live streaming of all meetings between government officials and Cabinet ministers, and putting details of file movement and file notings online for the public, officials said.
The proposal comes after last week’s alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by AAP MLAs at the chief minister’s residence, prompting protests from the bureaucracy.
Since the incident, the bureaucrats have refused to attend meetings, maintaining communication with ministers only through written channels. AAP has said that the move is in response to the demands by officers for more “safety during the meetings”, and will help “increase accountability of officers”.
“There is a scheme which the Delhi government has proposed where teachers have to be given tablets. That scheme has been shuttling between the IT, education and finance departments. This is simply because officers are delaying the matter. If these file notings are made available online, it will become clear to the public,” claimed an AAP leader.
However, a senior officer with the Delhi government said, “Any objections made by IAS officers are grounded in law. More often than not, the proposals made by AAP leaders are legally untenable.”
Expanding on the plan, a government official said that the live feed for each meeting and its audio output would be available on a website. “This will be along the lines of the live feed of Assembly sessions. The idea is that each meeting will be available online for the public to see and hear. This is a move towards transparency in government functioning,” said an official.
Read | Delhi Chief Secretary ‘assault’ case: FSL will decide whether CCTV footage was tampered, says police
On putting details of file movements and notings online, an AAP leader said, “There will be clarity on each project the government has proposed, and the level at which it is being discussed, or alternatively where it is stuck. People will be able to see who had the file, for how long, and who wrote what on a particular file — be it the elected government or officers.”
This, officials explained, was already a part of the Delhi government’s own intranet. “If passed, the plan will find allocation in the upcoming Budget session,” said an official. The plan, if passed, will be sent to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for his approval, following which it will begin from the next financial year, said officials. Officials clarified that meetings deemed sensitive, such as those on “law and order or the Budget”, are not likely to fall within the purview of the proposed move.
Read | AAP vs Chief Secretary: Ask officers to get back to work, Manish Sisodia writes to Anil Baijal
AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj has also suggested that meetings with officials in Assembly committees be made public. “This is the manner in which committees function across the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, a joint forum of Delhi government employees appealed to the L-G and Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to take action against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia over the alleged assault.
In a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat, the resolution was read out. It claimed that instead of apologising and admitting to their mistake, Kejriwal and Sisodia are in “denial mode”, which shows that they were a “part of the conspiracy”.
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