Brihanmumbai Energy Supply and Transport (BEST) has been facing financial troubles and has been struggling to sustain itself. Due to the financial constraints, the transport organisation had even faced a shut down as they had not paid the Nutritional cess charge to the Transport Department. Due to which, a transport officer had sealed three bank accounts of the transport wing.
While the company has been struggling to find solutions to its troubles, recently a new concern has surrounded them as the BEST workers union protested against the company’s decision to lease private buses. BEST had organised a discussion at the budget meeting on Thursday to solve the issue but the dialogue did not go successfully. BEST Workers’ Union President Shashank Rao told Mumbai Live that they will not let BEST drift towards privatisation.
In order to resolve its financial issues, the organisation has been working towards various solutions. As a part of this initiative, the company was planning to lease private buses. However, the BEST employees opposed the move as with the private buses, the corporation would have to hire private drivers in relation to the buses. Accordingly, a petition has been filed in the court against the corporation’s decision.
The corporation had discussed at the budget meeting that they were planning to run buses at a frequency of three-four minutes by introducing 1,000 midi and mini AC buses on wet lease across the city. BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde said that this move will attract at least 1,000 new commuters on a daily basis.
However, the protest by the employees may hinder the process for covering the transport company's loss.
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