Sisodia accuses services dept of trying to 'hamper' functioning of govt ahead of Budget Session

In the wake of DASS and steno cadre protest in the city, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Thursday accused the services department of deliberately trying to "hamper" the functioning of the government ahead of the Budget Session of the Delhi Assembly.

The services department comes under Lt Governor Anil Baijal in the national capital. The Budget Session of the Delhi Assembly is beginning Friday.

Sisodia wrote to Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev and asked him to implement the Sahai Committee's recommendations or Cabinet decisions.

Earlier in the day, Sisodia met protesting employees of his government who are demanding restructuring of the Delhi Administrative Subordinate Services (DASS) and steno cadre.

Three members of the Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association (DGEWA) have been sitting on a hunger-strike outside the Delhi Secretariat for the last four days in favour of their demands.

"It seems services department is completely insensitive to the plight of employees of government of Delhi and deliberately trying to hamper the functioning of the government by compelling the employees at such a crucial time when the budget session is in the offing and also the financial year closing," Sisodia said in the letter.

Umesh Batra, the general secretary of the DGEWA, said there are around 12,000 employees pertaining to DASS, steno and clerk cadre.

According to a government statement, Sisodia expressed solidarity with the protesting employees.

Addressing hundreds of protestors, the deputy chief minister rued that services do not come under the AAP government, adding that he was "pained" to see the DASS cadre continuously subjected to "injustice".

"Since May 2015, we are fighting to retain the services with the Delhi government. This is not a personal fight, but a fight against the repressive system," a government statement quoted Sisodia as saying.

He appealed to the employees to call off their hunger strike as it affects the health of those sitting on the protest, the statement stated.

Sisodia also conveyed the assurance from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that the elected government is committed towards the interests of employees working for the Delhi government.