Mumbai, June 18 (PTI) A joint action committee of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) employees has announced an indefinite strike from Thursday midnight in support of their demands, which is likely to affect power supply and civic bus services in south Mumbai.
The committee is pressing for several demands, including the merger of the undertaking’s budget with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
BEST Sanyukt Kamgar Kriti Samiti, an action committee comprising 12 unions representing BEST employees, made the announcement at a gathering in Dadar on Thursday evening, saying their long-pending demands were not addressed within the stipulated time frame.
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BEST is Mumbai’s second largest public transport provider after the suburban railway network.
Apart from operating bus services, it supplies electricity to over 10 lakh consumers in the island city. Around 25 lakh passengers travel daily in BEST buses.
The civic undertaking currently operates a fleet of around 2,700 buses, of which only 243 are owned by BEST, while the rest are hired from private operators on a wet-lease basis.
The key demands of the employees include merger of BEST’s budget with BMC’s budget, one-time settlement of legal dues of retired employees, implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations for the period 2016-2026, abolition of contractual arrangements in transport and power departments and absorption of wet-lease bus workers into BEST.
The committee has also demanded recruitment on vacant posts, operation of 6,000 buses under BEST ownership, promotions for eligible employees and rejection of privatization and public-private partnership (PPP) models in the undertaking. PTI KK RSY
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