On Wednesday, February 17, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) joint workers action committee had staged a march with a major demand to merge the BEST budget with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's budget.
However, the state government had earlier denied permission for the march between Ranibaug and Mantralaya. Therefore, the delegation is to give its statement to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray by holding a rally at Azad Maidan.
Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has supported BEST by providing funds and low-interest loans. However, as it is a parent organization, the organizations are demanding to merge BEST's budget with the municipal budget. Moreover, the action committee has alleged that it is being ignored. On August 7, 2017, CM Thackeray had also given an assurance in this regard.
Earlier in the day, the BMC had decided to provide the families of the BEST employees INR 50 lakhs in order to provide financial assistance to the families of the deceased.
This comes after BEST had requested the civic body to provide a plan for the employees of BEST. Moreover, the proposal with regards to the same has been placed on the table of the Standing Committee for post-work approval. According to sources, at least 100 employees of BEST have succumbed to the coronavirus while servicing the people of Mumbai amidst the pandemic.
However, BEST's announcement to merge the budget with the municipality's budget has not yet materialized. Two years ago, BEST was given INR 2,000 crores by breaking reserves whereas last year it was given INR 1,500 crores. However, the provision was reduced to INR 1,000 crores after the outbreak of the coronavirus increased its expenditure. Out of this, INR 918 crores has been given to BEST till January 2021.
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