Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj joined a meeting organised in protest against the BJP government’s decision to remove Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) employees working on contract, extending his support to their demands. The gathering, held near JLN Stadium at the invitation of the employees, saw Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that the government was carrying out a “well-planned conspiracy” to render thousands jobless so that they are forced to leave Delhi and return to their native places, an effort he claimed has been underway for the past year.
On Saturday, AAP Delhi State Chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said that while the BJP government may not be creating new jobs, it should at least refrain from snatching away the livelihoods of those already employed. Saurabh Bharadwaj also announced that the AAP will hold a massive protest at Jantar Mantar on March 1 in support of the dismissed employees. MLA Kuldeep Kumar and other party leaders and workers were present on the occasion.
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “When the AAP government was in power in Delhi, many powers, especially related to services, were taken away from it and handed over to the Lieutenant Governor (LG).”
Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted that employees were removed one by one merely to cause trouble. “Around 600–650 daily wage supervisors and security guards were employed in hospitals. Through his officials, the LG rendered all of them unemployed,” he said.
He further stated, “Similarly, around 10,000 bus marshals who earned ₹16,000 to ₹18,000 per month were removed. In Mohalla Clinics as well, many pharmacists, nurses, and multi-task workers were dismissed. Multi-task workers received ₹10 per patient, while pharmacists and nurses received ₹12 per patient. Somehow they managed to run their households. Even surviving on ₹18,000–₹20,000 a month is extremely difficult.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj said that private school fees for small children range between ₹2,000–₹2,500 per month. lEven if admission is secured under the EWS category, transportation by van costs another ₹2,000–₹2,500. Those doing small jobs somehow manage, but if there is no job, the entire family falls apart,” he said.
The Delhi State Chief continued, “Losing a job naturally leads to stress and depression. Neighbors and relatives repeatedly ask whether one has found employment or is receiving a salary, often mocking them. Everything is so expensive that it has become difficult for a poor person to make ends meet.”
He further stated that the AAP is not asking the BJP government in Delhi to provide new jobs or increase salaries. “They know the BJP government will not do so, but at least those who have jobs should be allowed to keep them,” he said.
The AAP senior leader further stated, “The AAP government had tried to increase employees’ salaries. Mohalla Clinic employees had even gone on a two-day strike demanding a salary hike.” Saurabh Bharadwaj had sent a file to increase the salaries of pharmacists, doctors, nurses, and multi-tasking workers (MTW), but the Health Secretary and other officials kept the file pending because these matters fall under the Services Department. lUsing this department, bus marshals and Mohalla Clinic employees were dismissed,” he said.
Saurabh Bhardwaj noted that he had warned employees that if the BJP government came to power even by mistake, their jobs would be lost. “At the time, employees had smiled, thinking it would not happen,” he said adding that the employees were deliberately provoked to defame the then AAP government so that the BJP could come to power.
He further said that around 250 employees of the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) had approached him. “If there was corruption, whom did the government hang or prosecute? By alleging corruption in everything, poor people earning ₹18,000 per month are removed from their jobs. This is a very serious matter,” he emphasised.
Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “We are all sons of farmers. During the farmers’ movement, 700 farmers sat at the borders. Those 700 farmers who sat at the borders died within a year.” He said all poor people are being removed so that they become homeless and leave Delhi.
“Their jobs are being taken away so that they return to where they came from. A large section of them comes from Haryana, Bihar, Western Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The BJP wants poor people to leave. Since the BJP government came to power, its sole agenda has been to remove the poor from here,” he stated.
The AAP Delhi State President said all this is being done under a well-thought-out strategy. “Poor people will be removed from their jobs. Those who belong to Delhi will somehow survive by paying rent and other expenses, but those who have no support here will return to their villages and take up farming,” he said. According to him, the BJP’s mindset is to drive poor people away and intimidate them using the police.
Saurabh Bhardwaj said that poor people know that the police will file FIRs against them, and they will surrender out of fear and harassment. “Two days ago, a boy from a depot made a video showing a bus decorated with flowers that had left from the depot,” he said and added that the Chief Minister inaugurated it at Ramlila Maidan, even though it was an old bus.
“Police have registered cases and FIRs against all those who uploaded that video. Social media platforms have been written to, claiming that the video could create social tension and therefore should be removed, whereas it would actually reveal the truth. This is how the police are being used,” he added.
Saurabh Bhardwaj concluded by saying that if voices are not raised, one by one every poor person will be made unemployed, and no one will even realize that injustice and wrongdoing are being done to them.
