LG stalled bus-marshals scheme by threatening officers, says Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena in the Assembly on Thursday, alleging that he stalled the bus-marshals scheme by threatening officers with suspension.
Kejriwal also said the language in an open letter written by Saxena to him on the one-time water bill settlement scheme was “filthy”.
There was no immediate reaction from the LG’s office to the allegations levelled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.

The AAP legislators strongly objected to the LG’s open letter and the House passed a censure motion on the issue raised by Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha.
Kejriwal said when the AAP government was formed in 2015, it came with the promise that whatever it takes, it will ensure security for women.
“On one hand, CCTV cameras were installed inside buses, panic buttons were installed and along with this, bus marshals were appointed from 2015,” he said.
The chief minister cited various instances where the marshals did good work and protected women and girls.

He said the scheme ran successfully for eight years from 2015 to 2022, pointing out that the three departments involved in the initiative were transport, revenue and finance.
“The transport department writes to the revenue department that we need so many marshals on buses. The revenue department recruits civil defence volunteers (CDVs) based on that and the finance department makes the payment.
From 2015 to 2022, these three departments did their work without any problem, from requisition to recruitment to payment of salaries to the marshals,” Kejriwal said.