The ongoing second wave of COVID-19 infection has raised concerns for Maharashtra's State Transport (ST) Corporation. Reports state that so far, 205 employees from the ST department have died due to the infection and the total number of affected employees has increased to 7,708.
On Monday, the department reported that 269 employees were found positive on the same day.
Over the past year, many drivers, carriers, technical and other staff members from the ST bus stations as well as headquarters have been on duty. The services were run for migrant workers from the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, post which, ST services the state were closed due to lockdown. However, the same were operational for essential services in the Mumbai metropolis.
A few months later, ST services in Maharashtra resumed after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed, and soon after, several employees from the department tested positive for COVID-19. The number of cases soon increased.
Meanwhile, the families of 11 ST employees who earlier died due to coronavirus infection have received financial assistance of INR 50 lakh. Officials have not taken a decision to provide financial or other assistance to other employees. However, discussions are being held if the heirs of the remaining deceased employees can be given a job on compassionate grounds. As of now, none of them has received a job offer.
As of April 26, the number of COVID-19 victims in ST reached 7,239 and this quickly increased to 7,708. On the other hand, 27 employees from the department died in a week. So far, more than 6,000 employees have returned home after the treatment and 1,470 employees are currently undergoing treatment. On the vaccination front, a total of 30,693 out of one lakh employees have been vaccinated for COVID-19
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