A State-appointed committee will submit a status report on the ongoing strike by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) employees to court on Monday, with a long-term plan to reform the BEST and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The cash-strapped organisations have told the panel that meeting the striking workers’ demand would only add to their existing financial mess. The BEST may have to go for a fare hike of as much as ₹4 and the BMC may have to source additional revenue from its kitty if the budget spoils are shared between the two.
Meanwhile, union leaders said on Saturday the strike would continue for at least another two days until the court hearing is complete.
The strike entered its fifth day on Saturday, with no BEST buses running on the streets. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation ran 67 buses, while the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport added 42 buses on its Andheri-Airoli service. Besides, 263 private buses ran through the day in key areas.
Striking BEST employees have lunch at a bus depot near CSMT, as the deadlock between the workers’ union and the administration continues.
The State Transport Department had on Friday asked private operators to ply buses on key routes.
Proposal for reforms
A member of the committee said, “We have heard both the sides and their concerns. The BEST and BMC have reservations about sharing the budget, but the union is not budging from it demands. A report will be submitted to the court on Monday.”
Sources said the undertaking’s proposal said that without any other source of revenue, it will need to raise fare by ₹4. The proposal include reform plans such as procuring 450 buses on a wet-lease model, which the Bombay High Court has stayed.
Senior BEST officials said raising the fare will only force more commuters away from the bus services. “We made a presentation in front of the committee regarding the financial situation of BEST and the reform agenda that we wish to undertake,” BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde said.
The State government set up the three-member committee to resolve the strike on Friday. The committee, headed by Chief Secretary D.K. Jain, and comprising secretaries of Transport and Urban Development departments, held marathon meetings with officials from the BMC and BEST, and union leaders on Saturday.
BMC unwilling
Sources in the committee said the talks were on the various demands made by the employees, including the possibility of merging the BEST budget with the BMC’s. With a burden of ₹1,780 crore every year owing to the Seventh Pay Commission, the BMC is no position take extra burden, representatives told the committee.
The BEST Sanyukta Kamgar Kruti Samiti, a joint action committee of BEST unions, called the strike on Tuesday pressing for three key demands: merging the BEST budget with the BMC budget, raising the grade of workers who had been given permanency in 2007, and a new wage agreement which has been pending since 2016.
