NEW DELHI: The Haryana government has issued a circular instructing all its officials that they are required to stand up during meeting with MPs and MLAs and that they should take action to any communication from them promptly. The circular is just a repetition of one sent to the state government by the Union government. However, it has grabbed the headlines considering the ongoing conflicts between IAS officers and the Delhi government.

On a related note the circular was issued by the office of Haryana Chief Secretary Depinder Singh Dhesi. It is dated May 28 and has been penciled by Under Secretary Political Devinder Kapil. The circular has erupted controversy on social media, accusing the BJP of using different standards for the behavior of delegation level officers in Haryana and Delhi.

On the other hand, the Haryana circular is effectively a forward of a memorandum sent by the Department of Personnel and Training of the Centre on February 7. The memorandum, addressed among others to the Chief Secretaries of all the states, urges that they circulate the information to all officers and occasionally review the execution.

The Haryana circular also mentioned the rules for reference. The parts that have attracted attention in the context of the Delhi government face-off affect especially to the protocols for how officials should receive, send-off and exchange words with MPs and MLAs.