BJP MLC Prasad Lad has expressed concerns over ‘inordinate’ delays in disbursing the salaries of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking employees. He demanded that BEST employees should get their salaries and other entitled benefits on a fixed date every month. The BJP MLC raised the demand during a meeting with the newly appointed general manager (GM) of BEST, Sonia Sethi, on Monday. Representatives of Shramik Utkarsh Sabha and the BEST employees’ union also attended the meeting. At the meeting, Lad demanded that workers’ salaries be disbursed on October 10 in view of the upcoming Diwali festival. Responding to this, GM Sethi assured that salaries will be released every month on the tenth. Lad also said that BEST employees should receive a bonus similar to that given to Municipal Corporation employees. Sethi agreed to this demand and informed that she has already written to the municipal commissioner in this regard. The MLC further demanded that 3 per cent of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s budget should be allocated to BEST. The meeting also included detailed discussions on issues such as the COVID-19 allowance for retired BEST employees, and the promotion process for workers and graduate employees, among others. After the meeting, Lad said, “I am confident that newly appointed General Manager Sonia Sethi will certainly adopt a positive approach and take sensitive decisions regarding the just demands of BEST workers. I extend my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to her.”
