CM directs continuation of CDVs as bus marshals till deployment of home guards

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has issued directions for the continuation of civil defence volunteers as bus marshals and the initiation of proceedings against secretaries of transport and finance departments for delaying their salaries, officials said on Wednesday.

Official sources, however, said the lieutenant governor has directed the Vigilance Directorate to examine the proposal for action against the officers before it is presented to the National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) for a decision.

Further action would depend on the findings of Vigilance examination and it is premature to say that the matter has been referred to the NCCSA, they said. In a note to Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, the chief minister also asked for the release of pending payments of the bus marshals before Diwali, they said.

Kejriwal said home guards are to be expeditiously deployed as bus marshals in the city and until such engagement and deployment is completed, civil defence volunteers serving as bus marshals are to be continued so that the safety of women passengers is not compromised.

In his note, the chief minister also directed Gahlot to initiate the process of suspension and disciplinary action against Ashish Kundra, principal secretary and transport commissioner, and Ashish Verma, principal secretary of finance, for allegedly causing a delay in the payment of salaries to bus marshals, the officials said.

The bus marshals are currently on an indefinite sit-in at the Delhi Secretariat, demanding the payment of their pending wages. In a circular on Tuesday, the Directorate of Civil Defence said civil defence volunteers are to be called on duty only for dealing with “disaster management and hostile attack”.

Previously, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena approved a proposal of the chief minister for the termination of civil defence volunteers. The move came about after it was pointed out by officers that civil

defence volunteers can not be deployed on regular duties like bus marshals.