Atishi writes to LG, demands that proposal on bus marshals be passed

Delhi chief minister Atishi on Sunday wrote to lieutenant governor VK Saxena, seeking the immediate approval of a proposal sent by the government to reinstate over 10,000 bus marshals in the Capital, and expressed concern over the “delay” in approving the plan — threatening to open up another front in a row between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the issue. The removal of approximately 10,000 civil defence volunteers as bus marshals on public buses in the Capital in November 2023, and their re-appointment has been at the centre of showdown between the AAP and the BJP, with both parties blaming the other for the dismissal of the volunteers, and both seeking credit for their re-instatement. On Sunday, Atishi in a two-page letter to Saxena in Hindi, said that bus marshals play an important role in making Delhi’s public transport safer for women. The chief minister further claimed that the AAP government on November 13 this year had unanimously passed a proposal to reappoint the marshals, and the file was submitted to the LG’s office the same day.