Bureaucrats under attack in Assembly

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party legislators on Tuesday continued their attack on the bureaucrats for the second day in row in the Delhi Assembly, as Speaker Ram Niwas Goel forwarded four matters involving the officers to the question and reference committee.

Mr Goel also ordered the  privilege committee to look into the matter related to revenue secretary Manisha Saxena’s recent interview to a Hindi daily, in which she allegedly said that a mob attacked the principal and teachers of a government school for scolding a student in Narela area.

However, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia termed Ms Saxena’s remarks “imaginary” and said that such an incident never actually happened. Ms Saxena, a 1996-batch IAS officer, was present in the officers’ gallery of the House after a direction from the speaker.

Mr Goel directed the revenue secretary to be present in the House tomorrow as Mr Sisodia would give his reply to a question on a mob allegedly assaulting the principal and teachers of a government school for scolding a student.

Besides the question and reference committee, Mr Goel also sent Ms Saxena’s matter to the privilege committee following a demand by AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj.

During the Question Hour, AAP MLAs sought action against a section of officers for not replying properly to questions asked by them. Of the three written questions, two were related to food and supplies department and one was about the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board.

AAP MLA Rakhi Birla, referring to a question asked by her, said the officer who gave the answer was “misleading the Assembly” by giving a “false” reply.

Mr Bharadwaj, referring to an answer written by food commissioner K.R. Meena said the answer was “incomplete” and urged that the matter be referred to question and reference panel. “I am forwarding the matters of Question Nos. 26, 27 and 31 to the question and reference committee to look into the matter,” speaker Goel told the House.

AAP Okhla MLA Amanattullah Khan objected to the presence of IAS officers in the House along with chief secretary Anshu Prakash and sought a discussion on it.

“The IAS officers are adopting pressure tactics. If this continues, how will we make them work,” Mr Khan said. The Assembly speaker agreed to allow time for discussion on it.

On Monday, Mr Goel had ordered the privilege committee to investigate into the matter in which the vigilance department officials had allegedly refused to reply to a question.

The speaker had directed the chief secretary to provide the answer to the question asked by AAP legislator Pankaj Pushkar and warned the bureaucrats they should not force him to the extent that he would not sign the Delhi Budget 2018-19, to be tabled in the House on March 22.