Four out of ten advisers not part of Delhi government

The Delhi government cancelled the appointment of ten advisers to ministers on the recommendation of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday. The decision, as suggested by the MHA, has once again given heat to the ongoing confrontations between the AAP and BJP government at the Centre.

According to the sources, of the ten advisers, four are not working in the government set up.

The ten advisers, whose appointments were cancelled, include Amardeep Tiwari (media adviser to law minister), Arunodya Prakash (media adviser to deputy chief minister), Raghav Chadha (adviser to finance minister), Atishi Marlena (media adviser to deputy chief minister).

The ten posts are not on the list of posts approved for the ministers and chief ministers of the government of NCT of Delhi, an order from the General Administration Department of the Government of National Capital Territory, Delhi said quoting a letter from the MHA.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reacting to the dismissal said that it was a conspiracy to derail the "education revolution" in the Capital.

“Delhi has received another love letter from the Modi government to derail the work done by the AAP government in the Capital. A letter from the MHA has removed the nine advisers on Tuesday. The government first threatened the IAS officers and then these advisers. The letter basically targets at Atishi Marlena, who has been a revolutionary contributor in the field of education,” said Sisodia.

The letter further added that the government of Delhi has not taken the requisite prior approval of the Central government to appoint officials on these posts.

Marlena, a student of Oxford University, was working with the Delhi government with a salary of Re 1. Similarly, Chadha, who was appointed by the government in 2016, charged Rs 2.50 as fee.

“Where exactly is MHA sacking me from? The terms of the appointment are clearly mentioned in the letter issued to me in 2016. This is just a way to divert attention from a spate of rapes, cash crunch etc, they have taken the opportunity to rake up non issues with AAP like retrospective sacking for a post I held for 45 days in 2016 for a paltry sum of Rs 2.50,” said Chadha.

According to the letter, Chadha was appointed as the adviser to finance minister for less than three months, from January 15 to March 31 in 2016.

ROLE OF ADVISERS

Atishi Marlena is a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a member of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the party. She was working as the adviser to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, primarily on education. She has worked in the field of alternative education and curriculum. She was also instrumental in drafting the manifestos of the party in the Delhi Assembly elections. Marlena has been a spokesperson of the AAP and is often seen on television debates representing the party.  A student of St Stephen’s college, Marlena has brought about noticeable changes in the education system of the Capital from 2015 onwards, with the introduction of smart classrooms and new teaching methods in government schools. After analysing the conditions of the schools the government took the decision of making new classrooms for the schools. The department realised that to improve the education system in these schools the environment of the schools should be changed first.  To bridge the gap between the teachers and parents of the children, Marlena and her team took the decision of organising mega PTMs in all the government schools. 

A chartered accountant by profession, 29-year-old Raghav Chaddha is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s national treasurer and its youngest spokesperson. He was appointed as the adviser to the finance minister at the honorarium of Rs 2.50. He has been a helping hand to the government in preparing its annual Budget. Chaddha has been close to the AAP leadership since the part came into existence on October 2, 2012. He had played a crucial role in drafting the manifesto for the party ahead of 2013 polls, after which it came to power for 45 days. Only recently, rumours of Chaddha to be pitched by the party as a potential candidate from the New Delhi constituency for upcoming Lok Sabha polls were afloat. Also, his appointment as the adviser was only for three months between January 2016  and March 2016. Soon after the MHA order to sack the nine advisers, Chaddha attacking the Central government tweeted: “Impressive diversionary tactics by the MHA, at the behest of BJP. To divert attention from the spate of rapes, cash crunch etc. an opportune time to rake up non-issues with AAP like retrospective sacking for a post I held for 45days in 2016 for a paltry sum of Rs.2.50 (sic).”