New Delhi: Denying the charges levelled against them by the Arvind Kejriwal government which claimed they were not working or taking orders from AAP ministers, the IAS association on Saturday said that they only hold a token protest every day.
“There are certain misleading and wrong statements by political executives alleging that IAS officers are on strike and haven’t been working for the last four months. It is reiterated and made clear that such reports are totally baseless. Meeting of chief secretary, principal secretary and heads of departments are also taking place regularly," said that statement.
It further said that the officers hold a “five-minute silent protest only during the lunch hour against the assault of the chief secretary at the chief minister’s residence".
They said that officers were worried about verbal assaults, threats, intimidation and attack on their dignity, respect. “Officers do not expect to be physically attacked while discharging their lawful functions and duties," said the statement.
Meanwhile, the sit-in by Kejriwal and his three cabinet colleagues entered its sixth day on Saturday as the impasse between Aam Aadmi Party and L-G Anil Baijal over IAS officers' alleged strike continued.
Health minister Satyendar Jain and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who along with Kejriwal and Development Minister Gopal Rai have stayed put at L-G office since Monday evening, have been sitting on hunger strike since Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
On Friday, Kejriwal asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to work with his officers not attending his meetings.
He had challenged the Prime Minister on the issue of alleged "strike" by IAS workers and challenged him to work without the officers attending his meetings.
"How do we work like this? Can Modi ji try working like this even for a day? Can our critics kindly tell us how do we function like this? (sic)," Kejriwal had tweeted after Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain alleged that environment secretary did not attend a meeting on pollution.
In his letter to Modi on Friday, Kejriwal urged him to end IAS officers' strike so that he can attend a meeting of NITI Aayog on Sunday.
Kejriwal along with his ministers is demanding that he (PM) direct IAS officers to end their "strike" and approve doorstep ration delivery scheme.
Also, Sisodia on Friday released a video warning that if they are forcibly removed from the L-G Secretariat, they will stop drinking water too.
Sources said that the L-G, who has been working from his residence after the sit-in by AAP ministers, has constituted three teams of doctors to examine the health of ministers.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Friday agreed to hear on June 18 a plea seeking direction to the L-G to ensure that the alleged 'informal strike' by IAS officers of Delhi was called off and they perform their duties as public servants.
The petition comes in the backdrop of another plea filed on Thursday in the court seeking that the sit-in by Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues at the LG office against the "strike" by the IAS officers be declared unconstitutional and illegal.
This plea against Kejriwal's sit-in was also listed for hearing for June 18.
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