House resolution to rejig staff cadre

NEWDELHI: The Delhi Assembly on Monday passed a ‘government resolution’, seeking restructuring of Delhi Administration Subordinate Service (DASS) and Steno Cadres within one month.

The Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association however termed it an effort to “woo the officers of the cadre”.

The move comes nearly three weeks after some of the employees of these cadres met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence, sparking rumours of a rift between the bureaucrats and lower-rank officers on the chief secretary (CS) Anshu Prakash assault row.

A delegation of DASS cadre officers led by president of the Joint Council of All Employees’ Organisations, DN Singh, had on March 7 met Kejriwal and expressed solidarity with the AAP government. Later in the day, Singh, who was also the president of Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association (DGEWA), was suspended from his post in DGEWA for “breach of trust”. In the meeting with Kejriwal, Singh had also raised pending demand of restructuring of DASS cadre.

On Monday, the resolution was moved by social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam who was appointed peacemaker by the government to find a solution to the CS row. The resolution was passed in the House with voice vote.

Tabling the resolution, Gautam said that the officers of DASS have been facing “acute stagnation” at all levels due to long pending restructuring despite the fact that the Delhi Cabinet had approved the proposal in this regard on December 31, 2015.

Reacting to the development, general secretary of DGEWA, Deepak Bharadwaj said that in 2015, Delhi Cabinet had approved a similar proposal but it was never implemented.

“The government is doing this to woo the officers. Employees will benefit only when such a proposal is implemented,” Bharadwaj said.