In an unusual move, the committee is even meeting this Sunday and is expected to clear some multi-crore projects that will benefit commuters
In an atmosphere of Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) committee rushing to showcase its sops to commuters and staffers, and is working overtime to clear proposals.
In an unusual move, the committee is even meeting this Sunday and is expected to clear some multi-crore projects that will benefit commuters. The prized one on the table is the Rs 2,624 crore proposal to procure 1,000 air-conditioned buses on wet-lease before the code of conduct kicks in. Another proposal is for wage revision of employees before Diwali, whereby 33,000 staffers stand to get a hike between Rs 5,000-10,000.
"We are in touch with all employee unions," Surendra Bagde, General Manager of BEST Undertaking said, adding, "We want to ensure that our employees get a higher salary in October". The administration will also approach all employees, who are not part of unions, and get their signatures by September 25 to accept the revised wage plan. Recently, the committee launched the Prawas app, ran new AC and non-AC electric buses, and also reduced fares to boost the loss-making undertaking.
POLL SOPS
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- Committee tables multi-crore proposal to get 1,000 AC buses. To meet on Sunday to clear them
- Committee also likely to green-light proposal to hike salaries of 33,000 staffers by Diwali
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The 1,000 buses will be procured through last-minute proposals brought to the table on Friday evening. The BEST Committee mulled Proposal 101 for getting 500 Mini AC buses that run on diesel, and also Proposal 104 for 500 Midi AC buses that run on CNG. This irked Opposition parties, who said it was too last minute and that as per rules, a proposal can be approved only 48 hours after it is tabled. So the committee called for an emergency meeting on Sunday to approve Proposal 101 and 104.
The 31-seater Midi AC buses will be wet-leased for eight years at a cost of Rs 1,668 crore. BEST will pay the private contractor Rs 69.70 per kilometre. They will run on CNG and will also be conductor-less. Which means, by the time they are ready to ply, the National Common Mobility Card system will have to be in place so that passengers can simply tap their cards on the electronic readers to use them. The minibuses will seat 21 passengers and would be added to the fleet at a cost of Rs 956 crore for 8 years. BEST will pay Rs 56.85 per kilometre to the private contractor.
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