New Delhi: The Centre and the Delhi government are yet again on a collision course as the Home Ministry on Tuesday made it clear that it was well within its right to seek details about the status of officers belonging to all India services.
A day after a terse letter penned by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal raised questions about sharing the information with the Centre, official sources said the Home Ministry was the cadre controlling authority for Delhi and therefore, it was well within its right to seek this information.
The sources said many IAS officers, who had been deputed to serve in the Delhi government, were still awaiting their posting while Group A officers (Indian Revenue Service) were holding secretary-level posts.
Kejriwal had listed out states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and asked whether Home Ministry could seek such an information from them.
However, the sources said the states mentioned by the Delhi Chief Minister were full-fledged states where the Home Ministry has no role to play.
Sources said while Delhi has a sanctioned strength of 58 IAS officers, the Home Ministry had provided 93 such officers to Delhi out of which many were still awaiting their posting orders.
The sources said the Delhi government cannot take people from outside while keeping the IAS officers waiting endlessly.
There have been several incidents in the past when the AAP government had strongly objected to the Home Ministry's decisions, including on appointment of senior officers.
