BEST Invokes MESMA, Deploys Special Buses For NEET Amid Strike
The strike entered its second day on Saturday, with only four buses from the scheduled fleet operating on city roads.
Mumbai: Ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on Sunday and amid the second day of the indefinite strike by employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking, the BEST administration has arranged special bus services for students and invoked the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) against striking workers to minimise disruption across Mumbai.
The strike entered its second day on Saturday, with only four buses from the scheduled fleet operating on city roads. To ensure that students appearing for NEET are not inconvenienced, BEST has deployed 60 additional buses for the 63 examination centres across the city.
BEST officials said bus services remained severely disrupted on Saturday, with only four wet-lease buses operating in the morning against the scheduled fleet of 2,767 buses. Although 246 BEST-owned buses had been rostered for service, none could leave the depots due to the ongoing strike. The situation showed little improvement through the day, with not a single bus from the scheduled 2,517 services operating by 6 p.m.
Of the 5,708 drivers on the rolls, only five reported for duty, while none of the 1,733 conductors resumed work, resulting in a near-complete shutdown of the Undertaking's bus operations.
The indefinite strike was called by the BEST Sanyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti, an umbrella body representing 12 employee unions, after negotiations with the administration failed to yield a breakthrough. The agitation, which began at midnight on June 18, stems from a series of long-pending demands related to employee welfare and the functioning of the Undertaking.
Among the key demands are the merger of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) dedicated ‘C’ budget for BEST with its main ‘A’ budget, settlement of pending legal dues of retired employees through a lump-sum payment, reduction in dependence on contractual bus operators, and the regularisation of wet-lease workers through their absorption into the BEST workforce.
In a statement, BEST Public Relations Officer Sucheta Utale said the administration had taken comprehensive measures to ensure that commuters faced minimal inconvenience. “The administration has closely monitored the situation and taken all necessary measures to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to passengers. Notices under the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) were served on employees participating in the strike on June 20. Similar notices were also served on wet-lease contractors,” Ms. Utale said.
She added that the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) had been requested to provide 100 buses to augment services. “To prevent inconvenience to students appearing for the NEET examination at 63 centres across Mumbai, 60 additional buses have been arranged between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and again from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Necessary instructions have been issued to depot managers,” she said.
Ms. Utale further said that the strike had not affected the electricity supply department of the Undertaking and that essential power services continued to function normally.
