NEW DELHI: Accusing the BJP of playing “dirty politics” over the re-employment of civil defence volunteers, Chief Minister Atishi on Sunday said her government will send a proposal to L-G VK Saxena to redeploy in the next two to four days to assist agencies on anti-pollution drives.
Addressing a press conference Atishi alleged, “BJP is only engaging in dirty politics with bus marshals and will not allow the L-G to approve their regularisation proposal. Arvind Kejriwal gave jobs to children from low-income families as bus marshals, but BJP took away those jobs.”
The services of around 10,000 civil defence volunteers deployed in public buses as marshals were terminated last year over objections raised by the finance and the revenue departments.
AAP-led Delhi government has been planning to utilise the volunteers in its efforts to curb the pollution which breached 500-mark on Sunday at several places. However, on Saturday, the Delhi L-G wrote to Atishi, saying he was yet to receive a proposal despite his order to immediately reappoint the civil defence volunteers.
A detailed proposal for their permanent engagement will also be sent for Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s approval within a week, she said.
Targetting the BJP, Atishi alleged, “On one side, we have the AAP and Kejriwal ji, who provided employment to 10,000 bus marshals, and on the other side, are BJP officials have stopped their salaries since April 2023 and repeatedly recommending their termination.”
She pointed out that, unlike BJP, AAP fulfilled its promise to regularise contract workers, as seen in Delhi MCD and Punjab.
Responding to Atishi’s allegations, the BJP’s Delhi unit chief, Virendra Sachdeva, said no matter “how many stories Atishi weaved over the matter”, he would hold a protest outside her residence if the chief minister failed to send a proposal for redeployment of the civil defence volunteers by Monday.
“It is strange that Atishi is so agitated by our demand to follow the lieutenant governor’s directive to reinstate the civil defence volunteers and citing examples from ‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari’ to deflect the matter,” Sachdeva said.“Still she fails to explain why her government has not reinstated the 10,000 civil defence volunteers from November 1 despite clear orders from the lieutenant governor,” he said.
“The volunteers are temporary workers and, due to the Atishi government’s “negligence”, it seems unlikely that they will be reinstated.”