The civil defence volunteers — whose services as bus marshals were terminated a year ago — will be deployed by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) for pollution-mitigation efforts.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the agency attended by Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena, who is also the DDMA Chairman, Chief Minister Atishi and Environment Minister Gopal Rai. Mr. Saxena has advised Ms. Atishi to come up with a “concrete scheme based on due process” for their future engagement, a Raj Niwas official said.
The termination of the services of around 10,000 civil defence volunteers has been a cause for a major confrontation between the L-G and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). They were removed by Mr. Saxena citing “improper recruitment process” on October 27 last year, eight years after they were hired by the government and deployed in buses for the safety of women passengers.
In a letter to the CM, Mr. Saxena said he has been “mulling over a solution for the vexing problem involving the livelihood of thousands of civil defence volunteers and their families.” He said the decision was taken considering the worsening air quality in Delhi and the lack of machinery to check pollution-related violations.
“I would therefore suggest that the Divisional Commissioner be advised to call out services of civil defence volunteers, especially of those who were engaged as on 31st October 2023, for a duration of four months and engage them for air pollution-mitigation activities. This should be done on an emergent basis starting November 1 till February-end,” he added.
AAP and the BJP claimed credit for the decision. Both parties had last month backed a resolution in the Delhi Assembly seeking the reinstatement of bus marshals.
BJP, AAP claim credit
Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the “struggle of the bus marshals has yielded results”. He held the BJP-led Centre responsible for their removal. Ms. Atishi shot back a letter to the L-G, saying “I am happy that the BJP had to bow down before the bus marshals.”
The BJP too hailed the move. The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, said, “This not only marks a victory for them but also exposes the government, which misled them as they could not be reinstated solely as bus marshals since they were temporarily recruited as civil defence volunteers for disaster management purposes.”
Published – October 25, 2024 01:14 am IST