Some officials have applied to the Union ministry of home seeking transfers out of the Delhi government but others have decided to stay put until the standoff is resolved. Some officials have applied to the Union ministry of home seeking transfers out of the Delhi government but others have decided to stay put until the standoff is resolved.

Caught in the crossfire between the Delhi chief minister and Lt-Governor over the power of each to appoint a chief secretary of their choice, bureaucrats in the Delhi government, however, have mixed feelings. While some say it is too early to say anything about the effect of the “turf war” on bureaucratic morale, others feel that any one of them could be in the line of fire if things are not resolved quickly.

Some officials have applied to the Union ministry of home seeking transfers out of the Delhi government but others have decided to stay put until the standoff is resolved.

An officer said there have been days when he does not even want to come to office. “Earlier, we used to look forward to the work. Now, every morning we think of going on leave. They (the AAP government in Delhi) have made working tougher and the environment is not congenial at all. We are glad there were a few of our juniors who opted for an out of Delhi posting. They said why work with AAP government as they could use the time to get the posting in soft areas and fulfil the requirement of posting outside Delhi,” the official said.

Another senior official admitted that a few of his colleagues had applied to the MHA for deputation outside Delhi government. “I know a few who have applied for transfer or central deputation. The morale is down and nobody wants to work with this government. They have in vain defamed an intelligent and hardworking official like (Shakuntala) Gamlin,” he said.

A senior bureaucrat said, “It would be too early to determine the effect of the conflict between the two offices. Since both the CM and the L-G had a meeting with the President on Tuesday, it is the outcome of this meeting that will decide what happens to us all. They have both approached our appointing authority and, hence, the decision of the President is eagerly awaited by bureaucrats.”

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Sunday publicly alleged that principal secretary (power) Shakuntala Gamlin — the bone of contention in the faceoff between Kejriwal and Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung — had a “nexus with power companies”. This, some of her colleagues feel, was “uncalled for”.

“There isn’t just one way of looking at this. I, for one, am not demoralised at all but officers are debating and discussing the powers of both the CM and the L-G. But work is certainly getting affected. We just want the situation to be restored to normal so that we can all concentrate on our work again,” another senior IAS official holding charge of two departments said.

An IAS official, who was recently posted in Delhi, said their colleague Anindo Majumdar, secretary services and general administration, was removed for issuing the order appointing Gamlin as acting chief secretary and it is unfortunate that he was locked out of his office. “We don’t know when this will end and if this will be the trend in the days to come. If this can happen to one officer it can happen to any of us,” he said.

Indira Jaising backs Kejriwal

New Delhi: A day after senior lawyer Rajeev Dhavan gave his opinion in support of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in his tussle with Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung, former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising too backed Kejriwal. Jaising wrote, “In the democratic scheme of our Constitution, the political executive is constitutionally empowered to choose its own officers in accordance with the cadre. Who will be chief secretary or any other secretary of the government is a matter in which the Governor has to yield the will of the political executive which has been democratically elected.”

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