New lease of life for terminated bus marshals

The volunteers will now render services as pollution warriors; their employment will be valid for four months

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IN a big relief to about 10,000 civil defence volunteers (CDVs), whose services were terminated last year, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, on Thursday, gave his nod for their redeployment in the Winter Action Plan to mitigate air pollution in the city.

Their contract will be valid for four months, beginning November 1.

The services of the CDVs were terminated as bus marshals in November 2023 over objections raised by the finance and revenue departments that they could only be engaged for duties related to natural disasters.

The L-G, who is also chairman of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, has advised the city government and the chief minister to come up with a concrete policy based on due process for their future engagement after the expiry of their four-month long contract.

The scheme—to be prepared by the Delhi government for regular employment of the civil defence volunteers—will include details of their deployment, budgetary provision, financial approvals, post-creation and reservation norms.