With no response from the state and central governments on any fuel subsidy to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking,the transport body has decided not to pay nutritional surcharge of 15 paise to the state government. Every commuter buying BEST ticket pays a nutritional surcharge of 15 paise,which goes to the state government. The surcharge was levied during the Indo-Pak war in 1971. Even after the war,the government did not withdraw it. BEST officials said if the surcharge is not paid to the state government then the transport body would earn Rs 20 crore more. The nutritional surcharge was levied on Mumbaiities during the 1971 war. Accordingly,every commuter was to pay 15 paise surcharge to the government. Whenever we made a demand to waive this surcharge,the governmemnt said that the money (received through surcharge) is used for Employment Guarantee Scheme and tribal development schemes. With little progress done on these fronts,we proposed that BEST should stop paying up this surcharge to the state, said BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya. The BEST administration had also proposed to hike the fare by Rs 2,but it was deferred by the Shiv Sena. The Sena-controlled BEST had written to the Ministry of Finance and Prime Minister to give subsidy on fuel after it hiked fuel prices. But it is yet to receive any response. Anyway,the state government has not been accepting our demand to waive off road tax,toll. They are not even giving us subsidy on fuel, added Ganacharya. BEST had earlier requested the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to waive off the toll for BEST and other public transport undertakings,which was denied. Other public transport undertakings in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) like the Thane Municipal Transport,Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport and Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Transport pays 15 paise surcharge to the state government on every ticket sold. They even pay the toll whenever the buses ply to neighbouring cities. Last month,Shiv Sena corporator and standing committee chairman Rahul Shewale had written to the BMC commissioner asking him to take measures to waive off this surcharge as it would help BEST to curb its losses. More reserved seats for women,senior citizensThe Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has decided to increase the number of reserved seats in its buses for women and senior citizens from August 1. As per the law,it is mandatory to reserve some seats in a public transport bus for women and senior citizens. The reserved seats for women will be increased from 6 to 8 and 10 in single decker and double decker buses respectively. Similarly,the seats in the air-conditioned and mini buses have also been increased from 2 to 6 seats. For senior citizens,the seats have been increased from 2 to 4 in single buses and 1 to 3 in mini buses.
