10 thousand civil defense personnel in Delhi may be furloughed before Diwali

Before Diwali, there is bad news for the Civil Defense Volunteers of Delhi. The services of more than 10,000 civil defense volunteers employed in 40 departments of the Delhi government are likely to be terminated soon amid continued protests demanding immediate release of their salaries that have been withheld since April this year.

According to a report by The Times of India, sources said that initially there was a proposal to remove 189 civil defense volunteers engaged in various routine duties of the Revenue Department, CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the correct legal status on employment of all the volunteers was ascertained. Should go and their services should be terminated from the end of October.

Sources said that the CM also directed that the salaries till October should be given immediately. No immediate response could be received from Delhi government.

‘No selection on adhoc basis

Of the 10,792 civil defense volunteers, 8,574 have been appointed by the transport department as bus marshals in DTC and cluster buses. Revenue, MCD, Environment, Food & Supplies, Trade & Tax and Election are other departments that avail the services of these Civil Defense Volunteers.

The basic role of Civil Defense Volunteers is to assist the local administration, but they are engaged in various tasks including assisting the administration in operations like ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ and assisting in miscellaneous tasks in Sub Registrar offices. Is included. During the pandemic, they played the role of frontline workers and helped the government in screening hotspots, distributing food, ensuring social distancing in crowded places and vaccination sites.

Rs 400 crores are being spent annually on salaries

With their salaries being withheld since April this year, civil defense volunteers have recently staged protests near the Raj Niwas, the residence of the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister and near the Delhi Secretariat. An official said that the deployment of these volunteers against their mandatory responsibilities and duties was considered illegal by various departments and their salaries were stopped.