NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday wrote to Lt. Governor Anil Baijal reiterating the demands for which he, along with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Cabinet Ministers Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai, started their sit-in protest at the LG office on Monday.
“It is in the first time in the history that the IAS officers are on strike. It has been more than three months. The work is being affected. Only you or Prime Minister can end this strike.
“You requested us to give you 2-3 days to act on our demands on Monday. We have been waiting for past 3 days in your office. I am expecting that you must have taken some concrete steps during this time. The people of Delhi are waiting for your answer,” Sisodia wrote in the letter.
He also informed the LG about the hunger strike he and Jain have launched.
For the last 72 hours, they are on a sit-in protest in the Raj Niwas, the official accommodation-cum-office of Lt. Governor Baijal, over the face-off between IAS officials and the AAP government since the alleged assault on the Chief Secretary.
On February 20, the Chief Secretary had alleged that he was assaulted by two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal in the presence of Kejriwal at the Chief Minister’s residence.
Following this, IAS officers in Delhi were not attending routine meetings called by the Ministers and the Chief Minister as “they (the Ministers) have failed to give any assurance till date regarding safety, security, dignity and respect to the officers including women officers,” IAS Association secretary Manisha Saxena had said.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel also wrote to Baijal over the IAS officers’ “strike”. He extended his support to the demands of the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues.
Calling the strike a “well-planned conspiracy”, Goel, in the letter written on Tuesday, urged the LG to save Delhi from “destruction”.
While the Delhi government is accusing the IAS officers of being on strike, the IAS association has maintained that the officers are doing their work and “no officer is on strike”.