Delhi CM demands reinstatement of 10,000 volunteers as bus marshals

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday claimed that lieutenant governor VK Saxena threatened Delhi government officials to discontinue the engagement of civil defence volunteers (CDVs) as bus marshals on public buses in the Capital, and called for the reinstatement of the nearly 10,000 people engaged as CDVs, who were sacked in November last year.
Kejriwal made the allegations in the Delhi assembly while speaking on a resolution moved by Aam Aadmi Party chief whip Dilip Pandey, which demanded that the CDVs be reinstated as bus marshals. The resolution was moved on a calling attention motion by AAP legislator Jarnail Singh, who sought a discussion on the sacking of bus marshals.
The LG did not respond to queries seeking comments. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, said it is in favour of reinstating the CDVs, but put the blame squarely on the AAP for failing to regularise their employment.
Speaking in the assembly, Kejriwal said, “In 2015, we came to power by promising women’s safety. Delhi Police is not within our control, but we did whatever was possible within our jurisdiction, such as installing CCTV cameras, and streetlights and deploying bus marshals in public buses. The bus marshals helped prevent crimes, and caught criminals and thieves.”
The chief minister added, “The scheme was going on well since 2015, and was suddenly stopped on November 1, 2023. The same officers who earlier approved the salaries of CDVs, started raising questions on the engagement of the bus marshals. LG called and threatened the officers to stall the engagement of bus marshals. The officers did not suddenly raise questions on the scheme.”
Kejriwal claimed that the officers were being threatened to stop work. “I ask officers and officers tell me that the LG has threatened them. I took the matter up with the LG but the LG said he never threatened them. Then why are the officers stalling even basic services? Why is the LG not suspending the officers? It seems that something is amiss,” he said.
The Delhi government deployed CDVs as bus marshals starting in 2015. However, the state revenue and finance departments in early 2023 raised objections on their engagement as bus marshals, noting that as per the Civil Defence Act, CDVs can only be called in as volunteers during natural disasters or calamities, and cannot be engaged regularly. The objections ultimately led to the discontinuation of CDVs’ services from November 1, 2023.
Since their sacking, the volunteers have been protesting near the Delhi Secretariat, demanding their reinstatement.
Transport minister Kailash Gahlot alleged that the bus marshals were removed as part of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP. “The bus marshals were engaged through established parameters, physical features, educational qualifications, the selection was done through DMs in a decentralised manner,” he said in the assembly.
“The bus marshals do not have a permanent job. The salary is given to bus marshals on a daily basis,” Gahlot added.
Kejriwal said that the LG should approve a policy for the appointment of CDVs as bus marshals. “I went to meet the LG when I came to know about the plan to stop the (bus marshal) scheme. The LG said the buses have CCTV panic buttons and there was no need to spend ₹280 crore on bus marshals. I said CCTV cameras are already installed in Raj Niwas, so let’s install panic buttons on the walls and remove all security from the Raj Niwas,” he said.
“The LG said home guards will be engaged (as bus marshals)… I am ready to sign all documents, even on blank paper, to hire CDVs… Till the home guards are hired (as bus marshals), the services of CDVs should be continued, and CDVs should be given weightage in the hiring of the home guards,” he added.
Leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly and BJP legislator Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said he is in favour of reinstating the CDVs. “The bus marshals have been protesting outside Delhi Secretariat for a long time, their family members are in deep distress. The AAP government had adequate time to regularise the bus marshals, but they did not regularise them and recommended their dismissal from jobs. The government should solve the problem of bus marshals… The rules were not followed in the engagement of the bus marshal,” he said.