‘Suspended’ Officers Entitled to Subsistence Allowance: AAP Govt

AAP issued a fresh order declaring suspended officers will only get a subsistence allowance instead of full salary.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (left) with deputy CM Manish Sisodia (right). (Photo: PTI)

Disregarding the orders by the MHA pertaining the suspension of two special secretaries to the Home department, the Delhi government has issued a fresh order declaring they will only be entitled to a subsistence allowance instead of their full salary.

Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain had on December 29 last put under suspension Special Secretary (Prosecution) Yashpal Garg and Special Secretary (Prisons) Subhash Chandra for allegedly refusing to sign a file pertaining to the Cabinet decision to increase salary of public prosecutors.

Since the Centre had declared their suspension as “null and void”, Garg and Chandra have been working in their offices at Delhi Secretariat. In an order dated Januray 27, Jain said:

<p>In exercise of the powers conferred upon me under FR 53(1) hereby order that Yaspal Garg, special secretary (Home) under suspension shall be entitled to a subsistence allowance at an amount equal to the leave salary which the government servant would have been drawn, if he had been on leave on half pay and in addition dearness allowance, as admissible on such leave salary, till revocation of his suspension.</p>

The same order has reportedly been issued for Chandra. The move to suspend the officers had led to yet another tussle between the government and the Lieutenant Governor, as only the Lieutenant Governor can suspend senior DANICS officials with permission from the Home Ministry.

Protesting it, around 200 Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) officers had on December 31 gone on a one day mass-leave. To support the protest, the IAS officers had also worked half-day that day.