Bus marshals demanding reinstatement were once again stabbed in the back by the BJP on Saturday. The AAP government had passed a proposal to reinstate their jobs, but when Chief Minister Atishi and BJP MLAs met with the LG, the LG did not clear the file. Angered by this, bus marshals, along with AAP ministers and MLAs, staged a dharna outside LG House. Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Mukesh Ahlawat, along with AAP MLAs Dilip Pandey, Sanjeev Jha, Kuldeep Kumar, Rajesh Gupta, Rohit Mehraulia, Ajay Dutt, and other party leaders, joined the protest, insisting on the demand to restore the bus marshals’ jobs. In response, the Delhi Police forcibly took the bus marshals, along with ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj, Mukesh Ahlawat, and AAP MLAs, into custody.
Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party has betrayed the people of Delhi and the bus marshals. The AAP government convened an emergency cabinet meeting and passed a proposal to reinstate the bus marshals. We have signed the cabinet note, but BJP’s LG has yet to approve it. The BJP, through its LG, has rendered 10,000 marshals unemployed. BJP and LG will certainly face the consequences for this.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj explained, “It was decided in the assembly on September 26 that the MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party and BJP would visit the LG along with the bus marshals to get their jobs restored. But on October 3, we waited all day, and the BJP MLAs did not show up. Today, after much difficulty, the BJP MLAs arrived. For two hours, the entire discussion was held on video in front of the bus marshals. The BJP MLAs said that if we pass this proposal in the cabinet, they would get it approved by LG Vinai Saxena. Although we doubted it, we still passed it in the cabinet for their satisfaction. We immediately convened the cabinet and passed the resolution, recommending it to the LG.”
He further added, “We ministers, MLAs, and bus marshals pleaded with BJP leader Vijender Gupta to come with us to LG House. We even made the Chief Minister sit in Vijender Gupta’s car to prevent him from leaving. Vijender Gupta stopped the car twice on the way, trying to make a U-turn, we even have a video of this. After much effort, we brought him to LG House. But as soon as we entered, BJP MLAs and the Chief Minister went inside, while the bus marshals were thrown out. This was done to conceal the conspiracy being hatched by the LG. Even our MLAs and ministers were not allowed inside. Only the Chief Minister and BJP MLAs were granted access. We are appealing to BJP, with folded hands, to reinstate the bus marshals’ jobs just as the Delhi government passed the cabinet proposal today. We will remain here until the LG signs it.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj also said, “Since Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena took office, he has taken away the jobs of thousands of contract workers, including 10,500 bus marshals. Many poor sons and daughters of Delhi have lost their jobs—data entry operators, NOs, sweepers, chowkidars, DARC fellows, and even those working in home delivery services and government hospitals. He has been responsible for the unemployment of thousands. But now their patience has worn thin. We have somehow brought the BJP MLAs here, but the bus marshals who went inside have been fired.”
BJP MLA kicked a female bus marshal and ran inside LG House
When bus marshals were protesting outside LG House, a female bus marshal reported that when she held the feet of BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, pleading for the reinstatement, he kicked her and entered LG House. After this, when Delhi government minister Saurabh Bharadwaj took the crying woman to the Delhi Police present there and asked them to file her complaint, instead of registering it, the police walked away laughing.
Bus marshals were deployed for the safety of passengers in buses
The Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi decided to appoint bus marshals in 2015 in response to concerns about the safety of people traveling in buses, especially women, who felt unsafe. To ensure the security of all passengers, the proposal to appoint bus marshals was introduced under the instructions of then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. After cabinet approval, around 10,000 bus marshals were deployed in buses.
There was no problem with the job for eight years
Civil Defense Volunteers (CDVs) worked without restrictions for about eight years, from 2015 to 2022. Three departments—Transport, Revenue, and Finance—were involved in their appointment and salary disbursement. The Transport Department would notify the Revenue Department about a shortage of bus marshals. Based on this, the Revenue Department would recruit Civil Defense Volunteers (CDVs), and the Finance Department would pay their salaries. From 2015 to 2022, there were no issues, but at the beginning of 2023, the attitude of all three departments changed, despite the appointment of officers in all three departments being the same as before.
BJP’s LG removed bus marshals from their jobs on November 1, 2023
Despite repeated orders from then CM Arvind Kejriwal, an order was issued to remove all bus marshals on November 1, 2023. In response, then Minister Atishi wrote a letter to the CM on November 15, 2023, urging that the bus marshals not be dismissed, as many women were concerned about their safety.
Even after the CM’s request, LG did not take action against officers for withholding salaries
Then CM Arvind Kejriwal, in a letter to LG on October 23, 2023, recommended action against the officers who were withholding the bus marshals’ salaries, but no action was taken. In his letter, Arvind Kejriwal noted that the LG had the authority to take action against these officers, as an order passed in August specified that only LG could do so. Arvind Kejriwal recommended action against bureaucrats Ashish Verma, Ashwini Kumar, and Ashish Kundra, as they were the officers responsible for withholding the bus marshals’ salaries and not following the ministers’ orders.
Transport Minister also wrote a note in October 2023
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot wrote a detailed note on October 20, 2023, about the bus marshal issue. In the note, it was mentioned how officers had withheld the salaries of bus marshals for several months, arguing that because CCTVs and panic buttons had been installed in buses, bus marshals were no longer needed. However, the note stressed the continued need for bus marshals, particularly for the safety of women. Bus marshals had been instrumental in protecting women during various incidents. Through the note, Kailash Gehlot requested the clearance of all outstanding payments for the bus marshals and proposed that bus marshals be appointed as home guards.
BJP’s LG clearly refused to reinstate bus marshals
Then CM Arvind Kejriwal once again wrote to the LG, demanding the reinstatement of bus marshals and action against the officers, as well as the regularization of their positions. However, on December 5, 2023, the LG wrote a note stating that Civil Defense Volunteers could not be employed for anything other than disaster management and, therefore, could not be reinstated. Furthermore, the LG also refused to allow the bus marshals to be appointed as home guards.
Then CM Arvind Kejriwal had written a letter to the LG
On October 27, 2023, then CM Arvind Kejriwal wrote another letter to the LG . In the letter, he clarified that his previous note was based on the legal objections of officers who argued that Civil Defense Volunteers could not be employed for regular jobs and were to be used only in disaster situations. He had previously written a separate letter to the LG on October 23, 2023, regarding the reinstatement of bus marshals. In that letter, he proposed appointing the bus marshals as home guards and recommended that until they were appointed as such, they should continue serving as bus marshals.
