As a dozen of officers are all set to leave Delhi secretariat, Delhi CM office may be working without bureaucracy. According to the sources, almost 5 officers have denied working in Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal office fearing to be targeted like previous IAS officers who worked with him. Sources have confirmed that if Kerjiwal couldn’t get fresh set of officers, he may bring in officials from outside Delhi or appoint private persons on co-terminus basis. Delhi government is already working with minimum number of officers than its assigned strength. “CM had approached around 10-12 officers to work in his office, but they politely refused to take up the new assignment, fearing they may be targeted by CBI like principal secretary Rajendra Kumar and deputy secretary Tarun Kumar who are facing multiple allegations after that they were suspended in 2016. “In this situation, the Chief Minister will have no
option but to hire officers from outside Delhi," a source said. Indian Revenue Services officer Sukesh Jain, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in CM office, has already applied for repatriation to his parent cadre which is likely to be accepted, sources claimed.
Additional Secretary Geetika Sharma has been transferred while another additional secretary, Deepak Virmani, has applied for study leave. There is urgent requirement of officers in the Chief Minister's Office as it supervises all government works, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal had written a letter to Delhi LG Anil Baijal seeking time to meet him after he missed a scheduled meeting with Baijal due to special assembly session on GST. In reply, LG office has said that due to special session CM and LG couldn’t meet so next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. LG office also denied allegations of not giving time to Delhi CM and said that on every Wednesday, Delhi LG meets Delhi CM to discuss various issues. “Due to special session of the assembly, we cudn't meet at 5.00pm on Wednesday, our pre-scheduled weekly meeting time. Subsequently, my office has been seeking time from your office for our meeting. Yesterday( on Friday), my office was informed that you are very busy this week and will be able to meet me only next week,” Kejriwal wrote in his letter.