Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday wrote a letter to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, urging him to replace Health and Finance Secretaries at the earliest.
The request of the Chief Minister came a day after the LG wrote a letter to him in which he expressed disappointment and concern with regards to the “pathetic” state of hospitals under the Health Department of GNCTD.
In response to the LG’s letter, Kejriwal said he had asked the Delhi Health minister for a report on the same.
“However, I wish to state that I have written to you earlier also to replace Health Secretary Deepak Kumar, who is not only ‘inefficient’ but openly defies the oral and written orders of his minister. How can an elected government function if the senior-most bureaucrat in that department refuses to follow orders of his Minister?” he wrote.
Likewise, Finance Secretary Ashish Verma had in the past “stopped the payments of medicines, lab tests, doctors’ salaries, farishtey scheme, DAK scheme, thus paralysing the entire health system”, Kejriwal said.
“I have requested you several times in the past, both in my personal meetings with you and in writing, to replace the Finance Secretary. He also openly defies orders of his Finance minister,” he said.
Noting that it is extremely important that the bureaucrats follow the orders of their ministers, the Chief Minister further said, “The Constitution Bench of Supreme Court has also laid down in its order dated 11th May, 2023 about triple chain of accountability in our parliamentary democracy- bureaucracy is accountable to Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers is accountable to the Legislature and Legislature is accountable to the people. If any one component of this triple chain breaks, the entire governance system would collapse.”
Kejriwal said the “insubordination and refusal” of the Finance Secretary and Health Secretary to obey the orders of their ministers has brought Delhi’s Health system to this state.
“I have repeatedly requested you to replace these two bureaucrats with better officers as these are very critical departments. I am sure that there must be some compulsion at your end because of which you are unable to do that despite promising me many times that you would replace them. In the interest of the people of Delhi, I again urge you to kindly replace them at the earliest,” he said.