Sri Vijaya Puram, Jan. 30: The Chairman of the Campaign Committee of the Andaman & Nicobar Territorial Congress Committee (ANTCC), T. S. G. Bhasker, has strongly objected to the reported use of government servants for purposes unrelated to their official duties, particularly for artificially mobilising crowds for various programmes, including political and non-political events.
In a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Admiral D. K. Joshi, Bhasker stated that it has increasingly been observed that government employees are being deployed en masse to attend programmes merely to create the appearance of crowd presence. He asserted that such practices are contrary to established service rules and administrative ethics.
The Campaign Committee Chairman pointed out that the last two programmes organised at Netaji Stadium were allegedly stage-managed events where government servants were compelled to participate. He condemned the practice, stating that government employees are recruited to discharge public duties and not to serve as crowd fillers for events of any nature.
He urged the LG to immediately put an end to, what he described as, the misuse of government staff and to ensure that such practices are not repeated in future programmes.
Bhasker further cautioned that if corrective measures are not taken, the Committee would be compelled to seek legal remedy by filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Court to protect the rights of government employees and uphold the rule of law.
