Mumbai: In a move that will benefit 32,000 BEST staffers, the sanctioned Diwali bonus, which was stuck due to the election code of conduct during Assembly Elections, will now be given to them.
But since they had a bad experience last year, BEST committee chairman Anil Patankar said, “Even last year the bonus was announced but workers did not get it.
This time the bonus amount should be credited to the worker’s bank accounts within the next 48 hours. Till then, there will be no BEST Committee meeting.”
So BEST General Manager, Surendrakumar Bagade on Tuesday gave his word that a bonus amount of Rs 9,100 will be credited to each of the workers’ bank accounts within 48 hours.
To approve the bonus, an immediate meeting of the BEST committee was held on Bhaubeej even though it was a holiday. This Rs 9,100 for each of the 32,000 employees implies a financial burden of Rs 37 crore to the BEST administration.
The administration had earlier said that bonus would only be given to those employees who had signed a salary hike agreement – a decision which was opposed by the workers’ union that had approached the industrial and labour court.
