<p>The BBMP may have hired 500 marshals in the last four years to clear the city of garbage dumps, but civic officials have started to use some marshals as "orderlies".</p>.<p>Besides escorting select senior officials as their security guards, the marshals, clad in military fatigues, are asked to carry lunch boxes and files. It has now been learnt that their services are currently being used by Special Commissioner (Finance) and Zonal Commissioner (RR Nagar), which is a clear departure from the BBMP’s rules.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-infrastructure/bbmp-gets-rs-200-crore-govt-grant-to-improve-city-infrastructure-1207425.html" target="_blank">BBMP gets Rs 200-crore govt grant to improve city infrastructure</a></strong></p>.<p>Some BBMP officers are furious over the misuse of marshals, as they are directly recruited from the Karnataka Ex-Servicemen Welfare Society, a registered body of ex-servicemen. The marshals take three years of additional training before the BBMP deploys them to handle various solid waste management issues.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Original purpose</strong></p>.<p>In 2017, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) designed a proposal to recruit marshals on an experimental basis to enforce the plastic ban. The proposal was implemented in 2019, when the civic body entered into an agreement with the ex-servicemen welfare society to provide 240 marshals with an annual salary of Rs 8.3 crore.</p>.<p>The BBMP employed marshals for diverse tasks such as Covid-19 management, Swachh Survekshan surveys, to monitor attendance of pourakarmikas and garbage-collecting auto-tippers, and guarding of waste processing plants, as well as Bellandur and Varthur lakes.</p>.<p>With approximately 533 marshals currently on the payroll, the monthly salary bill amounts to Rs 1.7 crore. These marshals are recognised for their responsiveness and ease of training, making them ideal for these responsibilities.</p>.<p>A solid waste management expert requesting anonymity acknowledged that the marshals actually improved the way solid waste is being managed in the city, but flamboyant officers are misusing them.</p>
<p>The BBMP may have hired 500 marshals in the last four years to clear the city of garbage dumps, but civic officials have started to use some marshals as "orderlies".</p>.<p>Besides escorting select senior officials as their security guards, the marshals, clad in military fatigues, are asked to carry lunch boxes and files. It has now been learnt that their services are currently being used by Special Commissioner (Finance) and Zonal Commissioner (RR Nagar), which is a clear departure from the BBMP’s rules.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-infrastructure/bbmp-gets-rs-200-crore-govt-grant-to-improve-city-infrastructure-1207425.html" target="_blank">BBMP gets Rs 200-crore govt grant to improve city infrastructure</a></strong></p>.<p>Some BBMP officers are furious over the misuse of marshals, as they are directly recruited from the Karnataka Ex-Servicemen Welfare Society, a registered body of ex-servicemen. The marshals take three years of additional training before the BBMP deploys them to handle various solid waste management issues.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Original purpose</strong></p>.<p>In 2017, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) designed a proposal to recruit marshals on an experimental basis to enforce the plastic ban. The proposal was implemented in 2019, when the civic body entered into an agreement with the ex-servicemen welfare society to provide 240 marshals with an annual salary of Rs 8.3 crore.</p>.<p>The BBMP employed marshals for diverse tasks such as Covid-19 management, Swachh Survekshan surveys, to monitor attendance of pourakarmikas and garbage-collecting auto-tippers, and guarding of waste processing plants, as well as Bellandur and Varthur lakes.</p>.<p>With approximately 533 marshals currently on the payroll, the monthly salary bill amounts to Rs 1.7 crore. These marshals are recognised for their responsiveness and ease of training, making them ideal for these responsibilities.</p>.<p>A solid waste management expert requesting anonymity acknowledged that the marshals actually improved the way solid waste is being managed in the city, but flamboyant officers are misusing them.</p>