New Delhi, Nov 13. The Delhi government has now thrown the ball in the Lieutenant Governor’s court in the matter of appointment of bus marshals, which has become the biggest political issue in the national capital. The cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Atishi, has recommended to Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena to immediately reinstate the bus marshals.
The cabinet says that planning for bus marshals is a matter of service as well as law and order. Therefore, the LG has been requested to make a plan for this.
Senior officials have given in writing to the Delhi government that only the LG has the right to make a policy for bus marshals. Therefore, the cabinet has said that till the plan is made, the bus marshals should be reinstated immediately as before 31 October 2023. It may take several months or years for the LG to make a policy. Therefore, the cabinet has urged to immediately reinstate the bus marshals where they were posted.
It said that the Delhi government is ready to bear all the financial expenses incurred on the bus marshals. The LG should immediately allow the use of civil defence volunteers as bus marshals. For ease of understanding, the decision of the cabinet meeting has been sent to the LG in both Hindi and English.
The Delhi government has said that the 2012 Nirbhaya incident had exposed the lack of women’s safety. In view of this, bus marshals were deployed to protect women so that security is maintained in buses at all times. The presence of bus marshals also reassures passengers, especially women, that there is a person in the bus who is ready to prevent incidents like molestation, theft or fights. CCTV cameras help in identifying the culprit after the incident, but bus marshals take immediate action, which can prevent the incident.
