The debt-ridden Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) has proposed to scrap 4,894 posts to cut losses and downsize the staff strength. The proposal was recently presented before the BEST committee, which is expected to take it up at when it convenes next week.
The BEST administration had recommended scrapping 7,334 posts as part of the reform process initiated by municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta in order to receive civic aid.
The BEST committee, however, refused large-scale slashing of jobs cuts and instead trimmed the list to 2,410 posts in November last year. The BEST has now proposed to scrap positions of 1,595 drivers, 1,657 conductors, 300 cleaners, 308 mechanics, and 250 labourers.
The BEST said the posts were being abolished as multiple positions existed in the same line of work. The BEST contended that in many departments the vacant outnumbered the officials. The public service provider also felt that with increasing use of technology, the number of personnel could be slashed.
The BEST has also decided to terminate the appointment of doctors and medical staff in all its depots except Colaba, Dadar and Wadala.
Meanwhile, Surendrakumar Bagde, BEST general manager, told The Hindu that no employee would be affected by the slashing of posts. Mr. Bagde said, “These posts were lying vacant and we have decided to never fill them up. We shall wait and see the impact the decision has on the organisation.”
He said that abolishing posts would help in the BEST’s long-term plans. The service provider, which has about 4,0500 employees on its rolls, reduced its fleet from 4,250 buses to 3,800.
A BEST committee member said, “They have systematically killed the organisation by first drastically reducing the fleet. This automatically reduced the need for employees. There has been a large number of cuts in the posts of drivers and conductors.”
The committee member said that the move was initiated to bring in private buses and staff into the BEST’s fleet. He claimed that the posts were deliberately left vacant and not filled up.
