I have come to know about this Office Memorandum of Department of Consumer Affairs. Secretary, DoCA has been instru… https://t.co/b5rIEWJQ6t — Ram Vilas Paswan (@irvpaswan) 1586872385000

NEW DELHI: Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan intervened on Tuesday to end an internal crisis within the consumer affairs ministry by ordering withdrawal of a controversial office order which had asked all officers and staff to give in writing if they were unwilling to continue in the department.The ministry claimed that the circular was issued to find out who were unable to come for emergency duties during the lockdown due to medical conditions or any other valid reason.However, TOI has learnt that a crisis had been brewing in the department for past few days. There were some serious issues between a senior official and many of the subordinates. This had triggered issuing of the controversial letter to all staff on Monday. It was sent to all officers through official mail and they were asked to respond by April 20.Sources said some of the officers had responded saying they wanted to go back for posting in any other department.On Tuesday evening, Paswan took to social media to make the point that he had instructed consumer affairs secretary Pawan Agarwal to withdraw the office memorandum and issue clarification.“Offices shall continue to function as per MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) orders during lockdown,” the minister tweeted.Refuting the ministry's claim, an officer said, “Almost all senior officers had been attending office, holding meetings and attending conferences even during the entire first phase of lockdown. This is a matter of record and can be verified. Since we all know the importance and responsibility of our ministry to ensure essential commodities are made available to people at this hour of crisis. We have been coming to office all these days."However, the ministry in a statement said, "In view of the ambiguity in the language of the OM, this is withdrawn forthwith. The department would compile such information and use it while drawing up roster duty of officers/ staff during the lockdown period so that none is put to any hardship, while work of the department is carried out smoothly."