Making an attempt to fulfil another of their poll promises, the Delhi Government has decided to deploy 2,500 marshals in buses plying in the city in order to ensure the security of women travelling in the public transport.
In order to achieve the same, the Government is currently providing training to personnel of Home Guard and Civil Defence as marshals to prevent and deter crime, especially against women passengers. These marshals will be deployed in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and orange-coloured cluster buses.
Transport Minister Gopal Rai said that as per the Government’s plan, 2,500 personnel of civil defence and home guards are now being trained as marshals in first phase. “They will patrol in buses in groups. Each group will have 3-4 marshals. They will soon start patrolling buses,” Rai said.
According to the Government, the marshals will be given walkie-talkies so that they can contact each other. “The idea behind deploying these marshals in groups is that they can prevent and deal with crime completely in buses. If one marshal is deployed in a bus, he may not be able to prevent two or three persons involved in crime. And in view of this, we have decided to deploy marshals in groups. They will also be given walkie-talkies by the Government,” he said.