Kejriwal ends sit-in, IAS officers attend meetings
New Delhi, June 19: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday walked out of Raj Niwas here after nine days of an unprecedented sit-in protest after IAS officers began attending meetings called by his government.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Kejriwal took the decision to leave the office-cum-residence of Lt Governor Anil Baijal after IAS officers attended meetings called by Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, Social Welfare Minister Rajinder Pal Gautam and Food Minister Imran Hussain.
The officers were also responding to telephone calls from Ministers and Sisodia said he too spoke to a number of officers.
"All the top officers including the Chief Secretary were present at meetings called by Ministers on Tuesday," Sisodia told the media.
Kejriwal, who left the Raj Niwas along with his cabinet colleague Gopal Rai, will go to his house, Sisodia said.
The decision was taken within hours after Baijal wrote to Kejriwal urging him to urgently meet the officers at the Delhi Secretariat.
Asked about the demand for delivery of ration to the poor at their houses, Sisodia said it can be resolved from outside also.
"When the LG has not responded on the issue in nine days, there is no point in waiting more."
Sisodia reiterated that the Delhi government had "nothing against the officers".
Kejriwal along with three of his ministers started camping at the Raj Niwas on June 11 demanding a direction to the IAS officers working in the Delhi administration to end their undeclared strike.
Two of the Ministers -- Sisodia and Satyendar Jain -- who were on hunger strike were shifted to hospital after their health deteriorated. But Kejriwal and his Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai continued their protest which drew support from several political parties in the country.
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Karnataka Cabinet to meet again to discuss SC internal reservation during recruitment
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet has decided to meet again to discuss the issue of providing internal reservation among Scheduled Castes for direct recruitment in the government sector, as deliberations on the matter remained incomplete.
While no specific date for the next meeting has been announced, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters it would be held "at the earliest" and reiterated the government's commitment to the issue.
The issue came up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, amid reports of rifts between SC(Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress over providing internal reservation in the recruitment to 56,432 vacant posts.
"The government is committed to providing internal reservation. We will meet again for further discussion. The chief minister will decide when to meet at the earliest. It will be a Cabinet meeting and will be held as early as possible," Patil said.
He said, "We had a detailed discussion on this matter for some time, but it was incomplete because many ministers are yet to speak on this. The order already issued (for filling up vacancies) will not be disturbed, and about other things, we will discuss in the next meeting."
The state government decided to conduct recruitment for 56,432 vacant jobs based on the reservation order in force before December 28, 2022, (15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs), due to the stay on the enhanced quota and internal reservation, while continuing to pursue its case in court.
The previous BJP government had increased the reservation quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, raising the state's total reservation to 56 per cent, exceeding the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent ceiling.
While this matter is still in court, the Congress government decided to provide internal reservation by slicing up the 17 per cent reservation matrix given to 101 scheduled castes, under three groups, with a formula of six, six, and five per cent respectively.
According to sources, the SC(Left)/Madiga community, which has fought for internal reservation for decades, opposes recruitment for 56,432 jobs without providing internal reservation.
The SC (Right)/Holeya community, however, favoured recruitment without providing internal reservation.
At the meeting, the Cabinet gave administrative approval for Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation to purchase 144 'BS-VI' urban transport diesel buses at an estimated cost of Rs 62 crores.
It also granted administrative approval for the purchase of hardware and software for implementing ICJS (Inter-operable Criminal Justice System) and IT services in the state under the Police Modernisation Project at an estimated cost of Rs 227.58 crores.
The Cabinet also asked the health minister to speak with officers, doctors and other staffers appointed on a permanent, contract, temporary, or outsourced basis in the health department, who have threatened to go on strike over their various demands.
Approval was also given for amendments to certain sections of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964, and the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, regarding advertisement charges under local bodies.
