NEW DELHI: In a poignant display of desperation, hundreds of terminated Civil Defence Volunteers from Delhi have been staging a protest near the Delhi Secretariat for over 10 days. Having lost their jobs on November 1, these individuals, previously engaged in roles such as marshals, express profound dismay over what they perceive as the Delhi government’s indifference to their demand for re-employment.
Aditya Rai, a spokesperson for the Delhi Civil Defense Volunteer protest, highlighted the dire consequences of the terminations, revealing that four male CDVs lost their lives to heart attacks during the ongoing protest. Despite persistent efforts, including the submission of memoranda to government officials, the CDVs assert that their pleas for reinstatement, particularly within the DTC or Cluster Bus Marshal Department, have fallen on deaf ears.
Mukesh Kumar, whose father Vijender Kumar succumbed to a heart attack while protesting, urgently appeals for financial assistance and employment to sustain his family of four.
“My wife passed away after getting the news that I had been terminated from the job. I was working as a caretaker for more than five years in an MCD dispensary and now my four children have become motherless”, said 44-year-old Waqar Hussain demanding that he is in immediate need of a job to feed his children.
The termination has disproportionately affected women as well. Archana Jain and Priyanka, erstwhile DTC bus marshals, lament the abrupt end to their employment, stating, “While the government cleared our pending salaries, we got the Diwali Bonus in terms of getting terminated from our job.”
Md Rizwan, a 28-year-old protesting marshal, shares a personal tragedy, revealing that his job loss has plunged his family of six into a deep crisis. He had been saving money for his sister’s marriage, but now faces an uncertain future. Despite attempts to seek clarification, officials from the Directorate of Civil Defence, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, remained unavailable for comment.
Commenting on the social aspects of job security, Human Rights Advocate Vinod Kumar said that the protesting Civil Defence Volunteers should be reinstated and they should also be provided with job benefits like medical insurance, pensions etc.
On October 27, Delhi L-G V K Saxena approved CM Arvind Kejriwal’s proposal to terminate all CDV services from November 1. This decision was based on the interpretation that the volunteers’ roles did not align with the stipulations of the Civil Defence Act, of 1968, which mandates their engagement solely in disaster management or hostile attack scenarios.