MUMBAI, April 19: Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking staffers will stage a three-day dharna outside Electric House in Colaba from Tuesday to demand the immediate implementation of medical and pension schemes on par with civic staffers.BEST Workers' Union vice-president, Sharad Rao, announced at a press-meet on Saturday that the municipal administration had backtracked after agreeing to implement their demands last April. ``This is all we can take. We are left with no option but to protest against this bias,''said Rao. The BEST had also agreed to extend medical allowance and a medical benefit scheme to its workers and staff on par with civic employees. It had also assented to restoring loss of wages on account of participation in agitations by sanctioning leave, as is done in the BMC, he added.Rao said although the union had tried to mediate and ensure a settlement, the administrative top brass was adamant and indifferent to the issue. ``They have been indulging in falsepropaganda to mislead the public. It's a big bluff,'' charged Rao.Providing figures to supplement his charges, he said in the budget estimates for 1998-99, the BEST has claimed a loss of Rs 126 crores. At the same time, it admitted that the subsidy on the ticket rate amounts to Rs 179 crore, which shows up a straight profit of 53 crores, pointed out Rao.Over 8,000 posts are laying vacant, yet, in its budget, the expenditure on vacant posts have been allotted an additional amount of Rs 70 crore. ``This shows that the transport division is in surplus, and not at a loss as it being made out by the administration,'' charged Rao.Rao said the union had formally complained to the chief minister about the denials of these benefits and have held three rounds of talks with Minister of State for Labour, Sabir Sheikh, but reportedly in vain.
