Govt. ‘neglect’ in installing panic button: Delhi BJP chief writes to L-G

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva has written to the L-G over the alleged neglect by the Delhi government in installing panic buttons in vehicles in the city.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday continued its attack on the Delhi government over the alleged neglect in installation of panic buttons in cabs and buses, including Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses.

The party’s Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and accused the Transport Department of “criminal negligence”.

The BJP had first made these allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party government on June 13, which in turn had rejected them.

Mr. Sachdeva has alleged that soon after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement to install the panic button in vehicles across the city, the Transport Department started collecting a fee of ₹9,000 from cab owners & ₹22,000 from bus owners per vehicle for installation of the button.

However, despite the government’s announcements, the work was not conducted and a plea was filed in the Delhi High Court, which intervened and directed immediate installation of the buttons in DTC buses in December 2022, the Delhi BJP chief said. According to Mr. Sachdeva, his party carried out an inquiry and confirmed that the buttons are not working.

In his letter to the L-G, he said that despite Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot’s claims of two control centres, the panic buttons are not functioning. He also said he has invited Mr. Gehlot to hold a demonstration at Zakir Hussain Marg before the media and showed that no government help comes on pressing the panic buttons.

He also urged the L-G to look into the “scam by the Transport Department”.