Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday accused the Centre of stalling government recruitments in the national capital for the last nine years. Bharadwaj's remarks came after Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena handed over appointment letters to nearly 1,500 newly recruited Delhi government employees, including 324 school principals and 500 fire fighters. Raj Niwas officials rubbished the charges, saying that the AAP dispensation never put up demands for filling up vacancies. "The Education Department or any other department of GNCTD never ever put up demands for filling vacancies despite huge, glaring and long pending vacancies. They always preferred ad hocism aimed at favouritism by appointing thousands of employees on contract, in gross violation of procedures, manuals and court orders," a Raj Niwas official said.
However, Bharadwaj, who is also the Services Minister, said the officers of the Services Department have on several occasions straight up refused to place on record the number of vacant posts despite multiple requests by Delhi Vidhan Sabha, citing the control of Central government on the department. The Delhi health minister also alleged that the Centre has been exercising "unethical and unwarranted" control over the Delhi Services Department. Talking about the event where Saxena distributed appointment letters, the minister said, "The LG said that it was only possible to give these jobs in the last couple of months. It was strange to see the LG pointing fingers towards the Central government regarding the delay in these appointments."
He said that everyone in the country is aware that appointment for jobs in Delhi, transfer of government officers or taking actions against errant officers, all of this comes under the Central government. He also said that since the LG is appointed by the Centre, by default, this task comes under his own office. "When today the LG pointed out that 35,000 posts had been lying vacant, he was essentially blaming the Central government for the delay in filling up these posts," Bharadwaj said, asserting that it was the citizens of Delhi who suffered because of the delay in filling up these posts. “The LG today has gone on to expose the BJP-led Central government on this issue, and also made it clear that what the AAP had been claiming until now was absolutely correct. We had said earlier also that it was part of a conspiracy by the BJP to not fill up these posts. The people are suffering due to thousands of vacancies for the posts of nursing staff and compounders in the Delhi government hospitals, and the Central government is to be blamed for it,” he said.
Bharadwaj stressed that over the years, he personally asked several questions regarding the number of vacancies in the various departments of the state government in the Delhi assembly, but no reply was provided by the LG Office. The Raj Niwas official said, "The Delhi government additionally deployed civil defense volunteers against permanent posts rather than asking for permanent appointments. They systematically subverted systematic recruitments and deprived the people of Delhi of regular government job opportunities. Very characteristically they are now trying to cover their deliberate acts of commission and omission, now that recruitments are being made."
