Kejriwal govt appointed AAP workers with fat pay cheques: LG House sources

New Delhi: The Arvind Kejriwal government employed 437 private individuals, mostly AAP workers, as fellows and consultants with hefty salaries, LG House sources said on Sunday, even as the ruling party denied the "arbitrary" allegations.

In the latest flashpoint, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recently approved the termination of services of 437 specialists appointed by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP dispensation to various departments and agencies of the city government. The LG cited irregularities in their engagements for the move.

Kejriwal had said the termination of the specialists would strangulate the Delhi government and its services, and hoped that the Supreme Court would quash it "The government brazenly flouted the constitutional provision of reservation for SC/ST/OBC in employing these private individuals.

It also rigged the entire selection process, chose favoured individuals with dubious qualifications, and used these so called ‘fellows’ and ‘consultants’ as political/party workers for political propaganda," the sources claimed.

"These private individuals/political workers were filled in almost every department, agency, board and PSU under the Delhi government, in many cases in place of senior government officers, essentially to evade any accountability and tweak the rules to their political advantage," they said.

The sources also claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appointed its own people in the selection panel to secure government jobs for party workers, adding they were given handsome salaries.

In a statement, the Delhi government said it "totally denies the arbitrary and baseless allegations made by the Lt Governor regarding the recruitment of fellows/specialists".

"...which appear nothing less than political vendetta and a desperate attempt to create a media sensation ahead of the hearing in Hon’ble SC on Delhi Ordinance. The Government unequivocally reiterates that the appointment of these fellows/specialists was made in accordance with the prescribed rules and regulations of the departments or institutions they were hired by," it said.