Delhi govt orders DTC to withdraw buses given to police on special hire

The government order comes in the wake of at least 40 DTC and cluster buses getting damaged on Republic Day when protesting farmers clashed with the police during their tractor rally.

The Delhi government has directed the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to seek prior approval before allowing any of its buses to be taken on ‘special hire’ by the Delhi Police or any other entity for that matter, senior transport officials said on Wednesday.

After the order, all DTC depots issued notices to the area SHOs of the Delhi police recalling buses with immediate effect. (ANI)

The government order comes in the wake of at least 40 DTC and cluster buses getting damaged on Republic Day when protesting farmers clashed with the police during their tractor rally. At several points, including near Akshardham and ITO, the Delhi Police had placed buses, besides barricades, to stop farmers from moving beyond the routes approved for the rally.

The directive was issued late Wednesday night to suspend direct issuance of DTC buses on special hire came with the approval of transport minister Kailash Gahlot, senior officials said.

After the order, all DTC depots issued notices to the area SHOs of the Delhi police recalling buses with immediate effect.

“It has been decided by the competent authority to withdraw all buses deployed on special hire with immediate effect. It is, therefore, requested to relieve buses immediately and any further requisition of buses shall be considered after the approval of the competent authority,” read the electronic messages sent to the area depot managers and the SHOs.

Gauging the urgency of the matter, this communication was made through emails as well, said a member of the DTC Ekta Karamchari Union - a body of DTC employees.

“The Delhi police has been taking state-run buses on special hire since a long time. But, the basic idea was to transport police personnel for mass deployment in specific areas,” said a senior government official.

“But, over the years it was noticed that the police started using these buses for other reasons such as using them as barricades to block roads to putting them up as shields to protect forces from potential violence during riots. The damage ultimately is borne by the DTC which is already running under loss,” said a transport official.

“At least 35 DTC buses were damaged in the Republic Day incident and this count is likely to increase as the assessment is still going on. As for cluster buses, a total of five buses were damaged throughout the day on January 26,” said a senior transport official.

Each bus costs about ₹50 lakh at least, the official added.

The damages were mostly on the windscreen, gate glasses, bumper and window glasses.

“Ever since February 1, hundreds of state-run buses are now being used as barricades to block roads. At least 6-7 such buses were deployed to block the Delhi-Meerut expressway alone,” said a senior DTC official.

Another official recalled how DTC drivers and depot managers had to face the brunt in the form of police cases when migrants started returning to their hometowns during the coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdown in April-May last year. “Even during that time, those buses were taken on special hire by the police. But all the blame and FIRs were faced by DTC employees,” said the official.