MUMBAI: The Mumbai Congress on Sunday released a manifesto called ‘Mission Save BEST’, centred around reviving the once-lauded public transport system. The party has accused the BJP-led state government of conspiring to shut down BEST in order to benefit private players, who have been given long-route bus services to operate at the cost of BEST-administered routes.
Congress releases separate manifesto for reviving BEST bus services
The nine-point manifesto speaks about ending the privatisation spree, restarting 3,337 buses as promised in the 2019 agreement with workers’ unions, increasing the fleet size of BEST to 6,000, restarting long-distance and cross-city routes and halting the sale of bus depot land to real estate players. The manifesto was released by Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad in the presence of MLA Amin Patel.
The Congress accused the state BJP-led government of facilitating a leading private company which has been operating 4,600 buses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region illegally. Gaikwad said that the fleet was being operated without any licence from the transport department as the operator had a nexus with officers and “political leaders from Thane”. She said that the company has been operating phased transport routes on the long routes that were operated by BEST and other transport agencies.
“This has resulted in a loss of ₹2,000 crore for BEST,” she said. “The public transport body is in bad financial health and has no funds to pay salaries and employee benefits. The long-route operations by this private player in MMR, including Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai, has resulted in many BEST routes shutting down. The company is so influential that the transport department is not taking action or submitting reports despite orders given by the government in May and December 2024. The player has also requested the government to waive the penalty imposed on its buses for illegal operations.”
State general secretary Sachin Sawant has also promised to immediately halt the wet-lease and privatisation contracts. “We will bring operations, maintenance and staffing fully under BEST control in three years once we are elected in the BMC,” he said. “We will procure new electric and CNG buses, and ensure that depot land is used only for transport use under the Development Control and Promotion Regulations.”