Delhi LG nod to employ 10,000 home guards
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved the enrolment of over 10,000 personnel as Delhi home guards, with the selection process to be completed by March 2024. However, the LG has made changes to the recruitment process, including lowering the age limit to 45 years, raising the minimum qualification to Class 12, and giving preference to former civil defence volunteers. The Delhi government and LG's office have clashed over the services of CDVs, with legal objections raised about their appointment to regular jobs. CDVs have been protesting for several weeks over salary delays.
Lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Monday cleared the process for the enrolment of more than 10,000 personnel as Delhi home guards, and directed that the selection process be completed by March 2024, officials in the LG secretariat aware of the matter said.
However, the LG has also tweaked some of the norms in the recruitment process, officials said — the age limit for enrolment into home guards will be brought down to 45 years from the existing 60 years, the minimum qualification has been raised from Class 10 to Class 12, and former civil defence volunteers (CDVs) will be given preference in the recruitment process.
HT reached out to the Delhi government, but officials did not respond to queries on the development.
Over the last few months, the Delhi government and the LG’s office have sparred over continuing the services of CDVs. While the government has claimed that the arrangement to hire CDVs as home guards was chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s idea, the LG secretariat has maintained that Saxena had mooted the plan after receiving a proposal to discontinue CDVs from November 1.
Several legal objections have also been raised about appointing CDVs on regular jobs, with officials saying that they can only be deployed for specific disaster-related work under the Civil Defence Act, 1968.
{{/usCountry}}Several legal objections have also been raised about appointing CDVs on regular jobs, with officials saying that they can only be deployed for specific disaster-related work under the Civil Defence Act, 1968.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday, Saxena finalised the enrolment process of 10,285 new home guard volunteers at a review meet, where, according to an official from the LG secretariat, the LG directed that the recruitment timeline be squeezed from the proposed June 2024 deadline to March. The official said these home guards will get a monthly salary of ₹25,000.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday, Saxena finalised the enrolment process of 10,285 new home guard volunteers at a review meet, where, according to an official from the LG secretariat, the LG directed that the recruitment timeline be squeezed from the proposed June 2024 deadline to March. The official said these home guards will get a monthly salary of ₹25,000.
{{/usCountry}}“LG directed that the age limit for enrolment into home guards will be brought down to 45 years from the existing 60 years, in line with the maximum age limit in other states and to ensure that the personnel enrolled served the purpose of acting as auxiliary to the regular police force. The minimum qualification for getting enrolled has also been raised from Class 10 to Class 12, in line with the required minimum qualification for appointment of constables in Delhi Police,” the official said.
{{/usCountry}}“LG directed that the age limit for enrolment into home guards will be brought down to 45 years from the existing 60 years, in line with the maximum age limit in other states and to ensure that the personnel enrolled served the purpose of acting as auxiliary to the regular police force. The minimum qualification for getting enrolled has also been raised from Class 10 to Class 12, in line with the required minimum qualification for appointment of constables in Delhi Police,” the official said.
{{/usCountry}}“It has been decided to provide ten bonus points to former CDVs during the recruitment process. The hiring process will be videographed and its pace would be increased by putting into place more teams and locations to complete the physical test process,” the official added.
The recruitment process will be overseen by 15 teams comprising a senior officer from the district administration, Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), who will serve as the board to assess the physical efficiency of the candidates.
“This would ensure that the selection and screening process is completed with speed. To ensure transparency, this entire process will be videographed through CCTV cameras installed at all the locations. Once candidates clear the physical efficiency test, they will become eligible for the computer-based entrance test (CBT),” the official said.
Separately, thousands of CDVs have been protesting for the last several weeks, demanding that their salary pendency of three-four months be cleared.
Sachin Kumar, 31, one of the organisers of the protest, said around 20-30% of CDVs whose services were terminated on October 31 may not be able to meet the new age and educational qualification criterion. “There are thousands of CDVs who will now be more than 45 years of age and many have educational qualifications of matriculation. We do not agree with these changes as they will leave behind many thousands of CDVs. All of the volunteers who were fired should be considered for getting their livelihood back,” he said.
