Days after he was removed as Principal Secretary of Services Department by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior bureaucrat Anindo Majumdar has lashed out at the AAP government for "humiliating" him and asserted that he will not follow any "unconstitutional" orders.
At a meeting of over 100 serving and retired IAS officials of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories) cadre last night, Majumdar came down hard on the AAP regime accusing it of insulting dignity of senior bureaucrats.
Majumdar was removed on Saturday by Kejriwal for issuing an order notifying the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary following direction of Lt Governor Najeeb Jung.
Though the Lt Governor had declared his removal "void", the AAP government did not allow him to resume work and had locked his office on Monday.
Majumdar shared his experience at the meeting which strongly condemned "politicisation" of appointments of senior officials and urged both LG and the chief minister to create a conducive atmosphere so that the officials can discharge their duties freely.
"Such incident has never happened to me. I will not back any unconstitutional orders. We have been humiliated. My office was locked out. It is about our honour and dignity," a source quoted Majumdar as saying in the meeting.
The bitter confrontation between the LG and Kejriwal began after Jung appointed Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary notwithstanding strong opposition by Kejriwal.
Gamlin, Rajendra Kumar, Secretary to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior bureaucrats from LG's office were present in the meeting. Around 60 serving and nearly 40 retired IAS officials attended the meeting.
A number of officials said they were upset with the AAP government as there were attempts to "publicly humiliate" senior bureaucrats.
"We view with great anguish the way IAS officers have been treated, publicly humiliated and subjected to character assassination. We condemn it. We urge the Lt Governor and the chief minister to create a conducive atmosphere where officers can function in a free and impartial manner," a resolution passed at the meeting said.
