NEW DELHI: Demanding immediate release of their salaries pending for four months, Civil Defence volunteers staged a protest outside the DTC headquarters at Indraprastha Estate and Delhi Secretariat on Friday.
The volunteers, who are engaged in large numbers as marshals in Delhi Transport Corporation and Cluster Scheme buses, apart from several other Delhi government departments, first went to protest at Indraprastha Estate, and then reached Delhi Secretariat in the evening where they sat on the road, some with bowls in their hands.
According to an estimate, nearly 15,000 volunteers are currently employed with Delhi government.
Aditya Rai, who was protesting outside Delhi Secretariat, said, "We are now left with no other option. There is nothing left to eat. Some people are in debt of up to a lakh."
Rekha Saxena, another Civil Defence volunteer, said, "I do not know how I will run my house any more. If it continues for a few more days, our children will not be able to study, we will not be able to eat anything. We are being strangulated like this."
Delhi government had said that despite revenue minister Atishi issuing specific orders to the principal secretary (revenue) on September 3 to release the salaries within a week, the money was not paid.
"This issue has arisen since the introduction of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2023, and despite the minister's orders, they are not being paid. The lack of salaries has created financial difficulties for the Civil Defence volunteers," the government had stated.
The volunteers had played an exceptional role in assisting millions of Delhiites during Covid-19, and also during the recent floods in the national capital when they had supplied relief materials to the affected people, it added.
Ankit Sharma, a Civil Defence volunteer, said, "Why are bus marshals being made a scapegoat in this LG vs AAP fight? We have been employed by this government, so we have come here to demand the salary from our employer."
Another marshal, Gaurav Kumar, said, "These people have money to put marbles in their houses, but cannot give us a salary, which is anyway very less. If we want, we can disrupt the functioning of the government by not reporting for duty, but we do not want people of Delhi to face any trouble."
He added, "When we protest, police send us away. We do not even have rights to demand our salalry."