Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister Atishi saying he is yet to receive any proposal for the re-appointment of civil defence volunteers (CDVs) who were removed as bus marshals last year.  Around 10,000 CDVs working as marshals in public transport buses in Delhi were removed from their jobs in November last year after objections were raised by the Revenue and Finance departments. Meanwhile, Delhi BJP has threatened to gherao the chief Minister Atishi if she did not send the proposal on reemployment of CDVs.

 "Of course, you and your party leaders may continue to do the politics of taking credit for their reinstatement but any more delay in the welfare of these economically weaker and helpless people, is not right in any way," Saxena stated in the letter.

 In a post on X, the Raj Niwas said the LG has again written to the chief minister underling the non-engagement of CDVs till now and has asked her for their immediate re-appointment.

 The LG has also asked for a concrete scheme to be formulated by the government for their immediate as well as long-term engagement, it said.  Saxena in his letter to Atishi accused that leaders of her Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) engaged in "undesirable politics" over the issue, yet "unfortunately he has not received any proposal from her so far".

 Citing his earlier communication to the chief minister on October 24, Saxena said he had directed to ensure the re-appointment of the CDVs from November 1 and had sought a comprehensive proposal for their long-term engagement.  He said he had ordered the reinforcement of the CDVs to help the national capital combat air pollution.

 "The air pollution in Delhi is at its peak and if these volunteers were timely reappointed, they would have definitely been helpful in tackling the situation besides being benefited themselves," the LG said.  He asked the chief minister to swiftly address the matter and direct officials to present a proposal for the reinstatement of the volunteers.

Lambasting the Atishi led AAP government, South Delhi BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said that AAP government has been exposed.  “Despite LG’s directions, Chief Minister Atishi did not send the proposal on reemployment of CDVs. They have time to address press conferences thrice or four times in a day to get media coverage. But they don’t have time to prepare a proposal on CDVs,” he added. Bidhuri said that all these leaders of AAP know that these volunteers lost their jobs in October 2023 due to the decision of the then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Bidhuri said that what could be more unfortunate than this that the Lieutenant Governor has to remind the Delhi government that they are entangled in credit politics and have not been able to send the proposal till now.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the the Kejriwal-Atishi government has no intention of reinstating these volunteers, and even if a proposal is made today, if “AAP” comes back to power, they will dismiss them again in March.

Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said that the Aam Aadmi Party Government has been shedding crocodile tears for the sacked Civil Defence Volunteers (CDVs)/Bus Marshals. Yadav said that the AAP legislators had created a hue and cry during the two-day session of the Delhi Assembly last month by raising the issue of the marshals, and even passing a joint resolution demanding the marshals’ reemployment, who were sacked by the Kejriwal Government. He said that the AAP Ministers also created a big drama when Saurav Bharadwaj fell at the feet of  Opposition leader Vijender Gupta, pleading with him to accompany the AAP leaders to meet the LG to take up the bus marshals’ case.