The Aam Aadmi Party has appealed to the LG to restore the jobs of bus marshals sitting on the roads for months. Senior AAP leader Sanjeev Jha said that bus marshals come from poor families, now it has become difficult for them to run the family expenses. Therefore, the LG should restore their jobs on humanitarian grounds, keeping in mind the plight of their families.
He said that the appointment of 10,000 bus marshals was cancelled on the orders of the LG. In February 2024, a proposal was passed in the assembly to continue the services of bus marshals and sent to the LG, but they were not reinstated. Our appeal to the LG is that if you want to take political revenge, then take it on the Aam Aadmi Party. What have the bus marshals done to you? At the same time, Kuldeep Kumar also made an appeal and said that we once again request from the LG to restore the jobs of bus marshals, so that they can provide their services to the people of Delhi.
Senior AAP leader and MLA Sanjeev Jha and MLA Kuldeep Kumar held a joint press conference on Tuesday regarding the delay in reinstatement of bus marshals. MLA Sanjeev Jha said that civil defence volunteers have been sitting on the roads for months demanding restoration of their jobs. The AAP has expressed its concern on this issue many times before. In a meeting held on 11 May 2015, the Home Minister had said that bus marshals should be deployed. Earlier, it was decided that home guards would be appointed as bus marshals, but when home guards could not be appointed even after continuous meetings, it was later decided that civil defence volunteers would be deployed as bus marshals. For this, the Transport Minister had passed an order regarding the appointment of civil defence volunteers.
“After continuous meetings, first 4000, then 9000 and later 10,000 bus marshals were appointed. These bus marshals did an excellent job in terms of the safety of people in buses. But just like the welfare schemes of Delhi have been treated unfairly by the officials on the instructions of the LG of Delhi, in the same way the appointment of these civil defence volunteers deployed as bus marshals was also cancelled,” he stated.
He continued, “On August 29, 2023, the Principal Secretary of the Transport Department issued a note saying that there is no need for these civil defence volunteers deployed as bus marshals now. Because now all the technical facilities and cameras related to security have been installed in the buses of Delhi, equipped with modern facilities. But Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot objected to this and gave clear instructions that the bus marshals will continue to work in the same way. For this, he called a meeting on 25 September 2023, in which all the officers concerned, including the Principal Secretary of the Transport Department, Secretary of the Revenue Department were also present.”
Sanjeev Jha stated that in the meeting, Kailash Gahlot gave clear instructions to the officers that the bus marshals will continue to work in the same way and their pending salaries should also be given to them. But at the behest of the LG, the attitude of these officers remained lax. Despite the instructions and notes of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and all the ministers, the deployment of bus marshals was not restored, and their pending salaries were also not paid.
Sanjeev Jha further said, “On February 29, Delhi Assembly Chief Whip Dilip Pandey put a proposal in the House for bus marshals. The proposal for restoration of civil defence volunteers working as bus marshals was passed in the House and sent to the LG. But it is very unfortunate that even today these bus marshals are sitting with their demand. Despite the order of the Delhi government, their appointment has not been done. Despite getting this proposal passed by the Delhi government minister and all the members of the assembly, today the jobs of civil defence volunteers have been snatched away under the politics of revenge. These civil defence volunteers come from very ordinary families, and this is also necessary for their livelihood.”
Today, all these people are dependent on others for the maintenance of their families. If the LG wants to do politics of revenge with the Aam Aadmi Party, then do it, but what is the fault of the people of Delhi in this? What have the poor families of these bus marshals done to you? At least that family can be supported, he asserted.
“Keeping this in mind, you should reinstate the appointment of bus marshals. These bus marshals are continuously sitting on the roads with their demands, regardless of the heat or cold. Until a concrete policy is made in this regard, these bus marshals should be appointed so that women travelling in buses feel safe and at the same time the families of the bus marshals can be supported,” he concluded.
Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar said when we passed the resolution on February 29, 2024, in the Delhi Assembly for the reinstatement of bus marshals and sent it to the Lieutenant Governor, we hoped that the bus marshals would be reinstated immediately. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also sad while giving his statement in the House that the bus marshals who were deployed by the Delhi government for the safety of the daughters and sisters of Delhi were also fired by LG without the permission of the Chief Minister or a minister. We sent this proposal to the Lieutenant Governor, giving all the information about the bus marshals and their need in Delhi, and requested him to reinstate the bus marshals immediately. It is not correct in any way for any Delhi officer to say that after the installation of CCTV cameras in buses, bus marshals are no longer needed. The Kejriwal government has installed CCTV cameras all over Delhi, so will we remove the Delhi Police?
Kuldeep Kumar urged the Lieutenant Governor to reinstate all the bus marshals as soon as possible and not snatch away the means of livelihood from these marshals. They served the people of Delhi even during the Corona period. When even families had distanced themselves, these volunteers went door-to-door and distributed COVID kits to people. “You rendered such people homeless and are now openly lying that the Delhi government has removed them. Whereas it is clear that Delhi’s services come under the BJP LG. If you want to do politics, do it with us but do not do dirty politics of snatching the jobs of bus marshals,” he said.
The Kondli MLA said the Delhi government had made its stand clear by bringing this proposal in the assembly. The Delhi government stands with the bus marshals. Our demand is that their jobs be given back with immediate effect, so that they can provide their services to the people of Delhi, he concluded.