A year after being sacked, 10,000 civil defence volunteers in Delhi set to return to work

Delhi government reinstates 10,000 civil defence volunteers to enforce pollution control measures for four months.

Chief Minister Atishi on Saturday said the Delhi government has approved the reinstatement of 10,000 civil defence volunteers. Starting from Monday, the volunteers will be deployed to enforce pollution control measures for the next four months as mandated by their reinstatement order issued last month by the Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena-led Delhi Disaster Management Authority.

In his October 24 order, the L-G had asked the government to come up with a “concrete scheme based on due process” for the future engagement of the volunteers after the end of the four-month employment period.

Reacting to the development, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said it was due to the pressure exerted by the party MPs that the CM was “forced to order the reinstatement”.

The volunteers, who were deployed as bus marshals for the safety of women in public transport buses in the city, were rendered jobless following a circular by Mr. Saxena on October 27 last year, citing an “improper recruitment process”. Since then, they have held several demonstrations demanding reinstatement.

Over the past year, the issue caused heated exchanges between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi’s principal Opposition party, the BJP. While AAP accused the BJP of “conspiring” with the L-G to get the volunteers dismissed, the BJP claimed that the Delhi government did not “have the intention to reinstate” the volunteers.

However, on September 26, both parties came together to support a resolution in the Assembly to restore the former bus marshals’ jobs.

Addressing a press conference, Ms. Atishi said, “No matter how many plots the BJP devises [against the people of Delhi], under the guidance of [AAP national convener] Arvind Kejriwal, we will resolve all problems.” She added that the Delhi government will, within the next few days, send a proposal to the L-G to make the civil defence volunteers permanent employees.