03 November,2020 08:02 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B Aklekar
Photo of worms in food served to a group of ST employees put up in an Oyo Rooms hotel
Following consistent complaints of bad quality of food for Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) drivers, conductors and staff in on-duty of BEST buses in Mumbai, Maharashtra transport minister Anil Parab on Monday evening cancelled all the food contracts and said that MSRTC staff would now get food allowance instead of food.
"Poor living conditions of staff would not be tolerated and in addition to this, we have formed seven teams who would review their lodging conditions and report to the central office every day," Parab said.
The decision came after Monday's incident when MSRTC employees stopped work at the BEST Kurla depot for some time in protest against the bad quality of food provided to them. The MSRTC said they had ordered a probe after the staff complained of worms in food packets.
While MSRTC spokesperson said that a probe had been ordered, a BEST spokesperson said that MSRTC staff gets food from outside and after their complaint was resolved, they restarted work.
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A group of drivers and conductors of the state-run transport body from Kolhapur and Sindhudurg, who are operating BEST and put up in Oyo rooms claimed the food served was infested with worms. An MSRTC official said that the food contractor had been warned and fresh food was arranged for everyone immediately.
MSRTC staff complained that earlier too there had been complaints about the food at Malad and this time it was at Kurla. A bus driver said that the MSRTC should give the staff food allowance instead of food to end this problem.
MSRTC buses have been inducted in the BEST bus fleet on rent since September 2020 as a back up to BEST and over the next one year, more than 1,000 buses from the MSRTC, which is one of the largest public transport undertakings in the country with a fleet of 18,000 buses, are in plans to be run over BEST local routes in Mumbai by their staff but guided by the BEST.
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