In yet another turnaround, Uttam Khobragade, general manager of BEST undertaking, on Monday assured employees that they would soon get their salaries.
Khobragade said that a bonus of Rs5,000 was paid to each employee last year
In yet another turnaround, Uttam Khobragade, general manager of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, on Monday assured employees that they would soon get their salaries.
However, he said that the issue of bonuses would be decided upon later.
With this announcement, Khobragade is sure to have pacified his detractors, apart from the employees.
Sharad Rao, general secretary of the BEST workers’ union, had said last week that he would ask the undertaking’s Employees’ Co-operative Credit Society to provide Rs1,000 gift vouchers to every employee.
“Even though I am the president of the society, members did not inform me about any decision. Instead, they forged documents, misplaced most of them and misappropriated funds. An inquiry to this effect has been sought and police complaints have also been lodged,” he said.
When asked whether the undertaking would pay any bonus to its employees, Khobragade said that bonuses of Rs5,000 had been paid to every employee last year.
However, he said, cumulative losses over a period of time had left the undertaking’s transport wing with insufficient funds to pay employees’ salaries, let alone bonuses.
“We will first give the salaries to all our employees. The issue of bonuses will be dealt with separately.”
Khobragade said that according to the undertaking’s budget estimates for the period of 2008-09, BEST was facing a deficit of Rs109-crore.
“The signing of several pay revision deals with unions is the prime reason for losses incurred by the undertaking’s transport wing,” he said.
The general manager said that the payment of an interim relief in 2004-05 and the signing of pay revision agreements had worsened the undertaking’s financial position over a period of time.
A senior BEST official said that the transport department was facing an accumulated loss of Rs1,531 crore as on March 31 this year.
The department earns Rs65 crore a month, however, its monthly expenditure is Rs104 crore.
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