‘State govt yet to clear resolution for MSRTC dues’

People board a Ganpati special MSRTC bus at Nancy Colony, Borivli, last year. File pic

The Maharashtra State Transport union leaders met BEST committee member and opposition leader Ravi Raja on Wednesday and sought the money that MSRTC is yet to get from the undertaking for lending its buses in September last year. Union leaders said that as per revised calculations, the actual due amount is Rs 71 crore.

Last year the MSRTC had supported BEST by providing them with about 1,000 buses. The MSRTC had planned a revenue of '197 crore from it, of which about Rs 71 crore is still due.

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"We met Ravi Raja and handed over our appeals to him. Over 97,000 MSRTC employees are awaiting their July salaries and we hope to get it this month at least. Salaries are credited to our accounts on the 7th of every month," said Srirang Barge, general secretary of Maharashtra ST Karmachari Congress.

"We, at the BEST committee, have already passed a resolution to clear the dues, and it is expected to come from the state government," Raja told the delegation.

mid-day had first reported on September 24, 2020, about buses from various MSRTC depots across the state arriving in Mumbai as a back-up plan for BEST's bus-scrapping spree. The MSRTC had given the buses at a rate of '75 per km following state government directives.