Delhi: LG Asks Officers To Work Without 'Fear Or Pressure' Amid Tussle With Govt Over Services

LG stated that he sincerely desired a workshop where all the Delhi police officers could gather and candidly discuss their issues.

Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, speaks at a workshop on "Capacity Building for Civil Servants in Delhi" in New Delhi on Friday.

Source : PTI

In the midst of a dispute between the Kejriwal government and the Lieutenant Governor over the transfer and posting of officers in the city, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena sent a strong message to officers on Friday. Officers are to work without fear, according to the LG, and they have his back. The L-G urged AGMUT cadre IAS officers attending a workshop on civil servant capacity building for effective service delivery to work hard and honestly without succumbing to pressure.

Saxena, who completed a year in office on Friday, outlined the administration's accomplishments and claimed that the national capital has not seen so much progress in the last decade. 

LG told the officers, "You should work hard and honestly without being pressed; no one can touch you; this protection is from my side. I've got your back". The Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi and the BJP-ruled Centre have clashed after the latter issued an ordinance effectively handing over control of the state bureaucracy to its representative, the L-G.

The ordinance came a week after the Supreme Court handed over control of services in Delhi to the elected government, with the exception of police, public order, and land.

"We have delivered so much in the last one year with your cooperation that could not have been done perhaps even in ten years," Saxena said, referring to various works supervised by him in Delhi. In the last year, 17,000 people in Delhi have been given permanent jobs. There has been a noticeable change in the heavily polluted Yamuna, and he hopes that the river will be restored to its former glory.

On Friday (May 19), the President Promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, in an obvious attempt to overturn the Supreme Court's decision to hand over the reins of 'Services' - that is, the power to transfer bureaucrats posted to Delhi - and give the Lieutenant Governor more teeth in the administration of the capital.

The Ordinance establishes a new statutory authority, the National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA), to be led by the elected Chief Minister of Delhi, as well as the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary of the Home Department. The NCCSA will provide the LG with "recommendations" on "transfer posting, vigilance, and other incidental matters."

On May 11, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favour of the Delhi government on the question of who controls the bureaucracy in the national capital. The 5-judge constitution bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, ruled that the legislature has control over bureaucrats in service administration, except in areas outside the NCT legislative powers. The Delhi government has no control over three areas: public order, police, and land.