The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, urging the removal of the Health and Finance secretaries. This request comes in response to the LG’s letter expressing concern over the deteriorating state of Delhi’s health infrastructure.
In his letter, Kejriwal emphasized the critical nature of these departments and expressed frustration over the bureaucrats’ non-compliance with government directives. He pointed out that Health Secretary Deepak Kumar has been openly defying both oral and written orders from his minister, hindering the functioning of the elected government. Similarly, Kejriwal accused Finance Secretary Ashish Verma of paralyzing the health system by stopping payments for medicines, lab tests, doctors’ salaries, and various health schemes.
Kejriwal stressed that the refusal of these secretaries to obey their ministers’ orders has led to the current state of Delhi’s health system. He referred to the Supreme Court’s order outlining the triple chain of accountability in India’s parliamentary democracy: the bureaucracy is accountable to the Council of Ministers, the Council of Ministers to the Legislature, and the Legislature to the people. Kejriwal argued that the insubordination of these key bureaucrats breaks this chain, potentially collapsing the entire governance system.
The Chief Minister reiterated his repeated requests to the Lieutenant Governor for the replacement of these secretaries, suspecting some compulsion on the LG’s part for not having acted on these requests despite previous assurances.
Concluding his letter, Kejriwal strongly urged the LG to consider the interest of the people of Delhi and replace the Health and Finance secretaries at the earliest. This move reflects ongoing tensions within the Delhi government and the challenges in bureaucratic compliance and efficiency.