Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal directs action over delay in payment to bus marshals

The Delhi chief minister also asked transport minister Kailash Gahlot to ensure that the deployment of home guards as bus marshals was continued

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday directed transport minister Kailash Gahlot to initiate disciplinary action against transport secretary Ashish Kundra and finance secretary Ashish Verma for allegedly causing delays in paying the salaries of bus marshals.

DPCC president Arvinder Singh Lovely with bus marshals outside Delhi secretariat on Wednesday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Kejriwal also asked Gahlot to ensure that the deployment of home guards as bus marshals was continued to ensure the safety and security of women and that their salaries were released before Diwali. The order said Gahlot may “initiate the process of suspension and disciplinary action against (those) who have caused delay in the payment to bus marshals.”

HT has seen a copy of the communication.

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“..All pending payments... be released immediately not later than Diwali. Home guards to be deployed as bus marshals expeditiously. There should be no reduction in the number of bus marshals...,” the order added.

To be sure, disciplinary action against officers can be initiated after due consideration by departments concerned and the National Capital Civil Services Authority — a three-member body a three-member body constituted to oversee transfers and postings of bureaucrats in Delhi.

An official said the LG has directed to examine the matter in accordance with extant statutory provisions by the department concerned before it is taken up with the NCCSA. “The matter is to be examined by the vigilance department firstly, and then further action would be taken,” the official said.

HT reached out to Kundra who did not respond to queries seeking comments.

Meanwhile, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Arvinder Singh Lovely on Wednesday joined the protest by the Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster bus marshals outside the Delhi Secretariat, demanding payment of their pending wages and regularisation of services.

Lovely was accompanied by senior leaders and former MLAs Mukesh Sharma, Hari Shankar Gupta and Jitender Kumar Kochar. The Congress officials said they wanted a solution to the problem without politicising the issue.