LG threatened officers to stall bus marshal scheme: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday accused Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena of threatening officers to stall various city government initiatives, including the bus marshal scheme.

There was no immediate reaction from the LG's office to the chief minister's claim.

Speaking in the Delhi Assembly on the issue of the removal of civil defence volunteers deployed as bus marshals in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses, Kejriwal said the scheme ran smoothly from 2015 to 2022.

"We formed the government in 2015 with a promise to ensure women's safety. We installed CCTV cameras in five years, street lights were installed at dark spots and buses were equipped with CCTV cameras, panic buttons and bus marshals were deployed. There are several instances of good work by bus marshals," the chief minister said.

The bus marshal scheme worked well for eight years but in 2023, officers started raising objections saying civil defence volunteers could not work as marshals, he said.

"The Lt Governor threatened officers to stall the bus marshal scheme. The LG questioned the deployment of marshals saying there were CCTV cameras and panic buttons," Kejriwal charged.

He also accused the BJP of shedding "crocodile tears" over the issue and said that he was ready to sign any paper for the reinstatement of bus marshals.

Kejriwal also spoke about Saxena's open letter to him on the one-time settlement scheme for allegedly inflated water bills.

"The language of the LG's letter was filthy," he said, adding such language should not be used.