The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking said on Saturday it has provided employment to one family member each of four of its staff members who died of COVID-19.
Six BEST employees have died since the undertaking reported its first case on April 2. BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde said family members of the remaining employees will also soon be inducted into the utility as per its policy.
As of Saturday, 115 BEST employees from the traffic and the electric supply wing have tested positive. “While 47 have recovered and have been discharged, the rest continue to receive treatment,” Manoj Varade, BEST spokesperson, said.
According to sources, a staff member from Deonar depot is suspected to have died of COVID-19, but test reports are awaited. “It is important to ascertain if the person had contracted COVID-19 or not. There have been cases where workers have died due to other reasons or pre-existing conditions,” a senior official said.
Workers’ demands
Several unions of BEST workers have said the administration has not paid adequate attention to the health and safety needs of employees, who are among key frontline workers.
“We want the administration to provide separate hospital facilities for positive workers and separate quarantine facilities for those who are asymptomatic,” Jagnarayan Gupta, leader of the BEST Kamgaar Sanghatna, said.
BEST Sanyukt Kamgaar Kruti Samiti, an umbrella body of BEST workers, said its members will stay at home unless the administration ensures the safety of employees, and demanded that the families of COVID-19 victims be paid ₹1 crore.
The BEST has become the sole transport lifeline during the lockdown, ferrying essential service personnel across the city and running point-to-point buses for municipal workers and hospital staff from the outskirts. They have also provided transportation to quarantine facilities for passengers arriving at Mumbai airport. Besides, 72 AC minibuses will soon be converted into ambulances.
