There was recently a news report that suggested Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) might hire conductors for its fleet of buses from a “manpower service provider” on a contract basis. Even from the word go, this seemed to be a controversial move and so it comes as no surprise that this plan has now been cancelled.
As many as 400 conductors were to be hired to meet the shortfall that BEST buses was facing. However, now BEST committee chairman Anil Patankar have instructed the undertaking to forgo this plan and even asserted that not even a single conductor will be recruited via this route.
There was a meeting held on Wednesday, where the committee members, cutting across party lines, raised objections to proposal of hiring conductors through a private agency. Some of the them even termed this move as absird while others thought that it did not make any sense and will indicate that BEST is going towards privatisation. Congress leader, Ravi Raja passed an adjournment motion on the issue.
In the past year, BESt has been wagging battle on many front. On one level it is looking at retaining its ridership and make sure that it is able to make profit and on the other it has to also factor into social impact that its move will cause. To regain the ridership share, BEST had also reduced the minimum fare for its ride. Now, one can hail a non AC BEST bus for Rs 5 while the AC journey in the Bus will cost Rs 6. In addition to this, it is also starting more routes to be able to serve the citizens better.
To make sure that it is able to cater to the needs of all kinds of customers there are many mini, midi buses that have been introduced. It is yet to be known if these buses are able to make a mark with the people or are people still prefering private transport or local trains to commute.
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