Arvind Kejriwal softens stand, assures safety of IAS officers

Softening his stand in the face-off with LG which entered its seventh day on Sunday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that “IAS officers are part of his family” and gave a public assurance of safety to bureaucrats in meetings with ministers while urging them to stop the boycott of the AAP government and return to work.
A senior IAS officer in Delhi government said the appeal would be discussed among the bureaucrats before a decision is taken.

The development came as a surprise as Kejriwal has been unrelenting in his demands that the LG direct the IAS officers to end the “strike” and take punitive action against the bureaucrats who have been boycotting the Delhi government for the last four months.

The uncertainty over the ending of the CM-LG face-off, + however, continues because neither Kejriwal has said that he will end his dharna nor the bureaucrats have given any hints of accepting the appeal and stopping the boycott of routine meetings.

In his appeal, Kejriwal said he will ensure the safety and security of officers with all the powers and resources available at his command. “It is my duty. I have given similar assurances earlier also to many officers who have been meeting me privately. I reiterate it today,” he said in the appeal which is likely to be considered by the IAS officers on Monday.

The appeal came hours after five IAS officers held a press conference + at the Press Club of India where they rebutted the claim of the Aam Aadmi Party that the officers are on a strike and said that the work is going on smoothly in all the departments. The bureaucrats, however, added that they are avoiding routine meetings which they feel would be “unsafe” for them.

The IAS officers claimed that an atmosphere of threat has enveloped the bureaucracy after the alleged assault on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash at Kejriwal's residence in February.

14 Corruption Cases, No Arrests: Why Arvind Kejriwal is Angry Again

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday lashed out at the Centre and claimed that his government was a victim of political witch hunt.

Kejriwal, who had been muted in his criticism of the Narendra Modi government since his loss in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections last year, was his old combative self. He claimed that the Centre had filed 14 cases of corruption against his ministers but had failed to convict or arrest even a single one.

“People have been saying recently that Kejriwal has been silent for one year. I think they (Centre) have started to take undue advantage of my silence,” Kejriwal told reporters at his residence. He added that the investigative agencies of the central government had filed six corruption cases with the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) and eight with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“They filed a case against us for irregularities in setting up 1031 anti-corruption helpline. No arrests have been made. Another case was filed against our deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for allegedly giving advertising contracts to his relatives. If that was the case, why is Manish Sisodia not behind bars? Why haven’t they arrested his relatives? The LG gave several hours to (rebel AAP MLA) Kapil Mishra who said I accepted Rs 2 crore as bribe. If that is the case, then go ahead and arrest Kejriwal,” the Delhi CM said.

Similarly, he added, eight CBI cases have been filed against various AAP ministers, including Sisodia and Satyendar Jain. “It is interesting to note that all these cases are politically motivated. Of the 6 ACB cases, one has been filed by a BJP lawyer, three by senior BJP leaders and one by the LG himself. The 8 CBI cases have been filed on the directions of the Lieutenant Governor,” he said.

Kejriwal alleged that these cases were being filed to halt the work of the Delhi government. “We achieved a lot in the last three years. BJP governments, which have been running for 10-15 years, have not achieved as much. People will ask what Modi Ji did for education and health in the last four years. To divert attention, they have started to attack Delhi Government. They have even asked for files related to mohalla clinics. Our officials are hauled up and abused. Instead of stopping us from making 1,000 mohalla clinics in Delhi, Modi Ji should make 10 lakh clinics across India!”

JEE Main free coaching stopped in Delhi; candidates pose tough questions for CM Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government started a scheme in 2016 under which it had collaborated with a private institute to provide free coaching to promising students for Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) on lines of Bihar’s Super 30. Surprisingly, This scheme was discontinued from this year, according to The Indian Express report. However, the decision to stop free has met with protest from aspirants in the national capital. Even teachers have come up with suggestions to continue the venture.

During an event to congratulate students who had cleared JEE Main, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said “The scheme was started on a pilot basis and we got feedback from a lot of students that they were not being able to cope with it. After taking the feedback, we stopped the scheme.”

Last year, 372 government school students had cleared JEE Main. This year, a total of 338 government school students cleared the JEE Main examination to get admission in engineering institutes, and become eligible to sit for JEE Advanced for admission to IITs.

Further suggestions also followed about the government holding such interactions with students who clear the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical institutes.

A student of RPVV, Lajpat Nagar, talked about the need to fill vacant posts. “Our principal helped us with physics but it would have been nice if we had the same for chemistry and biology. We have a shortage of teachers in our school,” said the student, Pratistha. To this, Kejriwal replied, “We are coming up with a scheme where the school principal and school management committee can coordinate and fill the posts temporarily.”

While Delhi has stopped free coaching facility, neghbouring Haryana state government has launched a scheme, Super 100, to provide free coaching to meritorious students of state-run schools for JEE and NEET exams, accoridng to a report. Under the scheme, students of the various government schools who secure over 85 per cent marks in their Class 10th examination will be provided free coaching for JEE and NEET preparation for two years, she said. The students will have to sit for an entrance test to be selected for coaching under Super 100. A total of 225 students will be selected after the test, which is scheduled for the second week of June.