Delhi Chief Secy Attack: Anil Baijal condemned assault termed it 'most unfortunate'

Lieutenant Governor (LG), Anil Baijal on Friday strongly condemned the issue of manhandling of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash at the Delhi Secretariat and termed them as 'most unfortunate'.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and all his Cabinet colleagues met Baijal at Raj Niwas on the alleged attack on Prakash earlier this week at the Delhi Secretariat.

"The recent incidents which have taken place are unfortunate and condemnable. The elected government must take steps to restore trust deficit with Government employees," Baijal said.

"No place for violence in democracy," he added.

Governor further noted that "no government can fulfill its promises to the people if the employees feel demoralised and insecure. There is no place for violence in a democratic and civilized society".

He also observed that steps need to be taken to remove mistrust between the government employees and the elected government so that development of Delhi and public interest do not get adversely affected.

Earlier in the day, the Secretary of Indian Civil and Administration services (IAS) Manisha Saxena conducted a meeting with the Minister of State Home Affairs Hans Raj Ahir and Union Minister Jitendra Singh regarding the alleged assault on Prakash.

Manisha Saxena informed that the entire association has been hurt by the incident of assault. She highlighted her concern regarding the security and the safety of the Indian bureaucracy.

She told ANI, "We all had come here to meet Jitendra Singh and Hansraj Ahir and told them how much we have been hurt by this incident and our concerns towards our security and dignity. We have told them about how this incident happened and decisions taken by us till now. We are continuing our work for public interests, but are working only through written communication."

She further demanded the Delhi government to provide security to the officers and guarantee them protection from any further instances of violence or misconduct.

She also said, since last years, the Delhi Administration Subordinate Service (DAAS) association has been under pressure, forcing various bureaucrats to take voluntary retirement.

She added, "Since these two Ministries are directly connected to Delhi government, that is why we wanted to tell them about this of the incident and our reaction. We all our government employees and are not affiliated by any (political party), (we) are greatly hurt by the incident and whatever we are doing is our Constitutional right".

The Delhi Chief Secretary had alleged an assault on February 20 by the members of legislative assembly of Aam Aadmi Party and a case was registered with the Delhi Police. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had refuted such claims and in return accused the Chief Secretary of abusing the party MLA.

The Delhi bureaucrats on Thursday created a coordination committee and conducted a peaceful protest, condemning the incident of the assault. They were supported by the Indian Administrative Service of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) and Delhi Administration Subordinate Service (DASS).