On Monday, the State Transport (ST) employees had demanded a special daily allowance for workers that showed up for duty amid the lockdown. Responding to which, State Transport Minister and State Transport Corporation chief, Anil Parab today announced that all ST Corporation employees that are working amid the lockdown will be provided with a special daily allowance of ₹300.
Since March 23, a lockdown was announced for Maharashtra in order to curb the spread of coronavirus. While all the public transport services were closed, only Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses were deployed for ferrying essential employees in Mumbai and ST bus service was functioning to ply essential employees from neighbouring areas of Mumbai.
The BEST corporation had announced a special daily allowance of ₹300 for all its employees who came to work during the lockdown. Following which, the ST Corporation employees had also demanded a daily allowance of ₹500 from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
The ST Employees Congress had claimed that they conduct 350-400 bus journeys between Mumbai and neighbouring areas on a daily basis and therefore, a special daily allowance must be allotted to them as well.
Appreciating the service provided by ST buses, Transport Minister Anil Parab said that barring essential services, everything had been shut down across the country amid the lockdown and the responsibility to ferry passengers living out of Mumbai Metropolitan Region's (MMR) to the city, fell on ST Corporation's shoulders. He added that the ST employees have been successfully carrying out their duties.
Parab also said that the employees who live outside Mumbai have been provided with temporary residences and are also being provided food by ST Corporation. He also claimed that all the employees are being provided with masks and sanitisers to ensure that their lives are not at risk amid the pandemic.
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