Civil volunteers to be hired as home guards

The announcement set off a credit war. Delhi government said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed the move to LG VK Saxena, while the latter’s office claimed the move was his initiative

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Around 10,000 people who were deployed as civil defence volunteers (CDV) in Delhi will be hired as Home Guards in the city, the state government said on Friday -- an announcement that set off a credit war between the elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) administration and the lieutenant governor (LG).

The back-and-forth began soon after the announcement, and continued into the evening.

First, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a letter on Friday said he had proposed to LG VK Saxena that CDVS not be dismissed and be employed as Home Guards and bus marshalls. However, Saxena's office then issued a statement saying it directed the chief minister to employ the terminated CDVs as Home Guards.

Minutes later, the CM's office issued a press statement saying Kejriwal had asked the LG to appoint CDVS as Home Guards. Soon after, government spokespersons said they would move the Supreme Court if the LG removes CDVs. To this, the LG's office issued a note accusing the Delhi government of "lying and misleading".

At the core of this tussle lies a years-old struggle between Delhi's twin power centres for control of the city's bureaucracy and its officials, a scuffle that has ballooned since Saxena took over the LG's office last May and one that has now spilled on to a host of government programmes and policies.

Delhi has over 10,000 CDVS have been employed by the government in several contractual jobs. They have not been receiving salaries since April because officers have observed that civil defence volunteers cannot be engaged in regular duties, and that they can be called be pressed into service during a disaster. Of the total 10,000 CDVs, over 8,000 are engaged as bus marshals in Delhi Transport Corporation buses.