AAP-LG standoff in Delhi: IAS officers body says awaiting formal communication for meeting with Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: IAS officers on Tuesday said they were waiting for a formal communication from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for a meeting at the secretariat to end the impasse following the alleged assault on the chief secretary earlier in 2018. Their statement comes a day after Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia requested Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal to hold a meeting between the government and the bureaucrats to end the ongoing deadlock. The officers are waiting for a formal communication for a meeting with the chief minister following his assurance over ensuring safety and dignity of bureaucrats, the IAS AGMUT Association said. [caption id=“attachment_4438801” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. News18[/caption] Sources, however, said Baijal may not convene the meeting as the Lieutenant-Governor’s Office had already asked the AAP government to sit with the officers and end the stalemate following the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February . “In the context of chief minister’s assurance, we await formal communication for a meeting with him in the Delhi Secretariat. We reiterate that we continue to be at work,” the association tweeted. Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues have been holding a sit-in at the Lieutenant-Governor’s Office demanding a direction to officers to end their "strike" and have the doorstep ration delivery scheme approved. The chief minister tweeted:

We wrote a letter to Hon’ble LG yesterday seeking meeting of all stakeholders.

We r awaiting response from Hon’ble LG

Hon’ble LG awaiting green signal from Hon’ble PM, who has to take the decision

Whole Delhi waiting for Hon’ble PM to decide fast.

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 19, 2018

On Monday, the Delhi government and the IAS officers expressed their readiness for talks to end the impasse. Sisodia had written to Baijal requesting him to call a meeting between AAP ministers and the bureaucrats to resolve the issue. The chief minister had also assured the officers on Sunday that he would ensure their safety and security. The officers had on Monday welcomed Kejriwal’s assurance about their safety, saying they were open to formal discussions with the chief minister on the matter. “I hope LG calls a meeting soonest to resolve this issue. (sic),” Kejriwal had tweeted after Sisodia’s letter. The officers had said that they looked forward to “concrete interventions” for their security and dignity, a move that may break the four-month-long impasse between the AAP dispensation and the bureaucrats following the alleged assault on Prakash by some ruling party MLAs at the chief minister’s residence.