BEST workers’ union has announced that it will hold a morcha tomorrow, February 17. The BEST employees decided to call for a protest -- 'Chalo Mantralaya' to demand merger of the BEST budget with the BMC budget as this will be a solution to the financial problems faced by the undertaking.
However, the state government has denied permission for the march between Rani Bagh and Mantralaya. Hence, the employees would now gather at Azad Maidan at 3 pm, said union leader Shashank Rao.
He also said that a memorandum will be submitted to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on that day. Rao further said that merging the budgets would mean that BMC, which is the parent body, will look after the financial needs of the transport and power supply wings of BEST.
This has been promised by the ruling Shiv Sena in the past, but has not been implemented. Therefore, the workers have decided to stage a protest, Rao stated.
He added that the unions had also conducted meetings at bus depots and demanded withdrawal of chargesheets served to workers who were absent on some days during COVID pandemic.
The transport body has been suffering a loss over the past few years. As a result, for the last three to four years, trade unions have been demanding that BEST's budget be merged with the civic body budget. However, the action committee has alleged that it is being ignored. On August 7, 2017, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had given an assurance in this regard.
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