Bus marshals protest near CM house, Delhi Secretariat over pending salaries; AAP govt blames Centre

Scores of bus marshals deployed by the Delhi government in DTC and cluster buses on Monday staged protests at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence and the Secretariat building demanding payment of salaries pending for the last four months.

The protesters, including female bus marshals, also protested outside Delhi Revenue and Finance Minister Atishi's residence till late evening.

The Delhi government, in a statement, said despite orders from the revenue minister, the bus marshals and civil defence volunteers have not received their salaries due to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act-2023 on the control of services in the national capital.

The GNCTD (Amendment) Act 2023, which gives the Centre control over bureaucracy in the national capital and seeks to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers, received the assent of the President on August 12. More than 13,000 civil defence volunteers and home guards working under the Delhi government have been deployed in DTC and Cluster buses to ensure the safety of passengers, especially women.

''We will not move from here unless we are guaranteed payment of our salaries,'' said Aditya, a bus marshal. The bus marshals also complained of poor working conditions and submitted their demand papers at the LG office, the CM residence, and the Delhi Secretariat.

''We are paid over Rs 800 per day on duty. Like other salaried people, we also have to pay rent, fees of children and meet other daily expenses like buying food and other necessary things. We are facing difficulties for months and have been forced to stage protests,'' said another bus marshal requesting anonymity.

The Delhi government said despite Atishi's order to the principal secretary (revenue) on September 3 to release the salaries of civil defence volunteers and bus marshals within a week, nothing has been done.

''This issue has arisen since the introduction of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2023, and despite the minister's orders, they are not being paid,'' it claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)