Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday directed his Home Minister to prepare a plan to "appoint" civil defence volunteers as home guards and depute them as marshals in public transport buses in Delhi. The civil defense volunteers working as bus marshals are protesting against the government for their pending wages of several months.

The chief minister said  the bus marshals have also helped in mitigating pickpocketing and other petty crimes on the buses. Kejriwal further said that the arbitrary removal of bus marshals will jeopardize their financial well-being since they come from very humble backgrounds. The Chief Minister asked Home Minister Kailash Gahlot for the prompt formulation of plans regarding the same.

In a letter written to Home Minister Kailash Gahlot regarding the importance of bus marshals, the chief minister said the government should develop a plan to appoint them only as home guards and continue them as bus marshals unless there is any specific complaint against any individual.  “These civil defence volunteers come from very humble backgrounds and it will put their families in severe financial crisis if they are suddenly removed. So, if we appoint the same set of people as home guards and put them on bus marshal duty, on one hand, the government will get experienced people and on the other hand, their jobs will continue. Please prepare a plan accordingly,” Kejriwal said in the note.

Taking cognizance of the legality of this decision in mind, the Chief Minister stated, "Legal objections have been raised about the continuation of civil defence volunteers as bus marshals. It has been said that civil defence volunteers cannot be engaged in regular duties and that they can be called only during any disaster. Therefore, it has been suggested that home guards be appointed bus marshals instead of civil defence volunteers."

"I have separately proposed to LG that civil defence volunteers should be continued as bus marshals till adequate number of home guards are appointed in their place. If the bus marshals are suddenly removed, it will not be good for the safety of women travellers," the chief minister said, according to the note.

 Since the existing civil defence volunteers who are working as bus marshals have the required experience a plan should be developed to appoint them only as home guards and continue them as bus marshals, unless there is any specific complaint against any individual, the chief minister.

 "So, if we appoint the same set of people as home guards and put them on bus marshal duty, one one hand the government will get experienced people and on the other hand their jobs will continue," said the note.

Earlier, on September 3, Revenue Minister Atishi had ordered the Principal Secretary, Revenue, to release the salaries of civil defence volunteers and bus marshals within a week. However, even after the minister's order, their salaries have not been disbursed till date. 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. The lack of salaries has created financial difficulties for civil defence volunteers and bus marshals. The civil defence volunteers have not been paid their salaries since April this year.

The Bus Marshals scheme was introduced by the Transport Department, GNCTD in 2015 to improve women's safety in public buses in Delhi. Under the scheme, civil defence volunteers and home guards referred to as Bus Marshals are deputed in DTC and cluster buses and recruited by the Department of Revenue and the Directorate General of Home Guards respectively.