Over 93k MSRTC staffersyet to get July salaries

Aurangabad: Though September has begun, over 93,000 employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) have not received their salaries for the month of July till Wednesday posing huge difficulties before the affected workforce.
The state transport utility continues to witness a loss of around Rs 400 crore per month during the current pandemic due to drop in passenger count, posing unprecedented financial crisis before the MSRTC.
Many MSRTC employees said they were facing trouble due to non-release of monthly salary. “I borrowed money from my brother-in-law to manage house expenses. We can understand financial crisis arising out of Covid-19 outbreak, but a delay of two months delay in crediting salary is too much,” a conductor from Parbhani district said.
When contacted, MSRTC spokesperson said the state government has promised Rs 500 crore towards the release of salaries. “The official notification to facilitate the transfer of money is yet to be issued. Once the notification is out, the salaries are expected to get disbursed in next four days. It is expected that salaries for July and August will be disbursed together,” he said.
Notably, the salaries of MSRTC staff from January to June could was paid only with the help of the government as the state transportation has incurred over Rs 7,000 crore losses since March 2020.
Union leader Shrirang Barge of ST Karmachari Congress said the BEST owes Rs 71 crore to the MSRTC towards Covid-related services. “Even if the government offers financial aid of Rs 500 crore, the state transportation will be short of around Rs 80 crore to release monthly dues of the staff for two months. The government should ask the BEST for release of necessary money at the earliest,” he said.
Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab could not be reached for his comments.