Ahead of polls, Delhi govt promises pay hike to 22,000 contractual DTC staff

New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Monday reached out to the 22,000 contractual employees of Delhi Transport Corporation and assured them of a pay hike, regularisation of service, posting in depots close to their homes and re-skilling of drivers in running e-buses as the CNG fleet gets phased out. 

Addressing a press conference, CM Atishi said a proposal is being sent to Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena for offering grade pay, in place of the current daily wage of Rs 843 or Rs 21,900 monthly, translating into a monthly salary of Rs 32,900 for contractual drivers and Rs 29,000 for contractual conductors.

“Hopefully, this proposal will be cleared soon and in a month or two, contract drivers and conductors will start getting regular grade pay, along with annual increments,” said CM Atishi, adding a proposal for regularisation of service of contractual staff will also be sent to the L-G.

The CM’s bonanza for DTC contractual staff in the run-up to elections is being seen as an effort by the ruling AAP to win over a sizable vote bank. The 22,000 contractual DTC staff, along with their family members, is considered to be capable of influencing results in dozens of constituencies in the rural belts in north and east Delhi.

CM Atishi said the wage hike for the DTC contractual staff will involve an additional annual spending of Rs 222 crore by the Delhi government, for which the Cabinet will soon approve a proposal.

She said the 4,564 contractual drivers and 17,850 contractual conductors had complained that they were being posted in depots very far from their homes and wanted to get postings close to their homes.

“A new policy has been announced by the DTC on November 3, to rationalise the posting of drivers and conductors to try and give them postings near their homes. The entire exercise will be online and a list of postings will be prepared in a transparent manner,” she said.

Atishi also thanked drivers and conductors for calling off their agitation and giving the Delhi government time to resolve the issues.

A training schedule has also been prepared to train contractual drivers, who drive CNG buses, to use e-buses, whose fleet is set to increase in the coming months.

The CM also raised the issue of a flash strike by the staff at Sarojini Nagar Depot after it was converted into an all-women depot. Many of the women staff had objected to posting at the depot, demanding postings close to their homes.

“Within one day of our meeting with the agitating women employees, we issued orders allowing them to seek transfers to depots of their choice,” said the Chief Minister.

Talking about the delay in re-engagement of the 10,000 out-of-job bus marshals, CM Atishi said she wanted to request the L-G on behalf of all women in the city to recall the bus marshals early for safety in public transport buses.