The appointment of fellows has been a point of conflict between the Aam Aadmi Party and Raj Niwas.
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The services of 116 fellows and associate fellows working with the Delhi Assembly have been “discontinued with immediate effect”, through an order issued by the Assembly Secretariat.
The order, dated August 9, states that the services have been discontinued till issues of “the payment of stipend and marking of attendance are resolved”.
The development comes three days after the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which gives the Centre-appointed Lieutenant-Governor the final say on the transfer and posting of officials in the Delhi government, was passed by Parliament.
Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, who had opposed an earlier order terminating the services of the fellows, said Wednesday’s order had been issued with his permission.
Point of conflict
The employment of the fellows and associate fellows by the Assembly has been a point of conflict between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Raj Niwas.
The Delhi government’s Services Department had on July 5 issued an order discontinuing the engagement of 437 private persons hired as advisers, fellows and consultants by the Delhi government.
Order withdrawn
A day later, based on this order, the Assembly Secretariat issued an order that “discontinued with immediate effect” the services of 116 fellows and associate fellows of the Delhi Assembly Research Centre (DARC).
Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had opposed the move and written to the L-G, stating that the order “smacks of arbitrariness and unexplained vindictiveness”.
Following this, the Services Department withdrew its order the same day.
While it enabled the fellows to continue their work, the Finance Department, based on the Services Department order, asked the account officers not to release salaries to the Assembly fellows.
On July 31, the Vigilance Department issued show-cause notices to several officials, including the Assembly Secretary, for “actively facilitating illegal engagements” of the DARC fellows.
The BJP had last month slammed the Delhi government for the appointments.
It had charged the government with hiring AAP volunteers as advisers and fellows, and paying them lakhs of rupees as salaries.