Odd-Even formula: Volunteers should work in coordination, says Congress

Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee on Monday welcomed the views put forth by Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi with regard to the Odd-Even car scheme and said that it should not become a mob rule in Delhi in the name of volunteerism.

"Mr. Bassi's concern is that there should not be any kind of vigilantism. And we would like to say that volunteers are most welcome but the volunteers must follow the rules..The volunteers, they need to work under the Delhi Police and they need to work in coordination with them. Just in the name of Volunteerism it shouldn't become a mob rule in Delhi," Mukherjee told ANI here.

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Bassi today issued a directive to the people wanting to volunteer for better implementation of the Odd-Even formula in the national capital and said that they would be provided details about the action plan.

"Delhi Police will assist odd-even to protect environment. Volunteers must not act on their own. Even stopping or asking someone on the road to return is an IPC crime," said Bassi.

He added that those interested in volunteering for the same may contact the Delhi Police.

"The volunteers interested in helping the implementation of the Odd-Even formula must come to Delhi Police. We will provide them with details and brief them about the action plan," he said.

Earlier, Bassi had warned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) volunteers to keep the idea of Rule of Law and Vigilantism at bay.

In a tweet, Bassi said that the Delhi Police would enforce 'odd-even' and requested the Delhi Government to ask its volunteers to assist the Delhi Police and 'to act as told'.

"ALL NOTE: Rule of Law & Vigilantism are incompatible," he added.

The Delhi Police Commissioner further said that once volunteers reported to the men in uniform then 'they shall be briefed and deployed as per an action plan'.

No undue harassment of road users is the objective, he added.

Bassi also said that the Odd-Even enforcement would rest on the Delhi Police Traffic unit's four guiding pillars namely 'ERER - Education, Regulation, Enforcement and Road Engineering'.

"Reg ERER. Road safety education is the key. Regulation supports it. Enforcement deters. Vehicle & road engineering features promote safety," he added.

The scheme is being implemented for a period of 15 days from January 1 on trial basis to curb pollution in Delhi.

Violators of the scheme would attract a penalty of Rs. 2,000. VIPs, women drivers, CNG-certified vehicles, two-wheelers and those carrying the differently-abled are among the 25 categories which will be exempted from the scheme.