"Appoint civil defence volunteers as home guards for deployment as bus marshals": Delhi CM Kejriwal to Kailash Gahlot
Oct 27, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 27 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote a letter to Delhi's Home Minister Kailash Gahlot asking him to appoint civil defence volunteers as home guards and depute them as marshals in public transport buses.
In a letter to Kailash Gahlot, who is also a transport minister in the Delhi government, Arvind Kejriwal said, "Legal objection has been raised about the continuation of civil defence volunteers as bus marshals. It has been said that civil defence volunteers cannot be engaged in regular duties and that they can be called only during a disaster. Therefore, it has been suggested that home guards be appointed as bus marshals instead of civil defence volunteers."
Adding that a separate proposal has been made to Delhi LG VK Saxena over the continuation of civil defence volunteers as bus marshals, Kejriwal said, "If the bus marshals are suddenly removed, it will not be good for the safety of women travellers. Since the existing civil defence volunteers, who are working as bus marshals, have experience working as bus marshals, we should develop a plan to appoint them only as home guards and continue them as bus marshals unless there is any specific complaint against any individual."
Delhi CM Kejriwal further mentioned that the removal of civil defence volunteers as bus marshals will put their families in a financial crisis.
"These civil defence volunteers come from very humble backgrounds and it will put their families in severe financial crisis if they are suddenly removed. So, if we appoint the same set of people as home guards and put them on bus marshal duty, on the one hand, the government will get experienced people and on the other hand, their jobs will continue," Kejriwal said.
Bus marshals are civil defence volunteers and home guards deputed in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and recruited by the Department of Revenue and the Directorate General of Home Guards, respectively.
