A day after an employee of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) committed suicide over non-payment of salary for three months, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Tuesday announced a ₹1,000 crore package to pay pending salaries before Deepavali.
“We were always of the opinion that salaries of all State transport employees be paid on time. We had been trying for the same from different sources. On Monday, we held a meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and today with Finance Minister Ajit Pawar. The government has agreed to release a package worth ₹1,000 crore. All salaries will be paid before Deepavali,” said Transport Minister Anil Parab.
“We lost over ₹3,000 crore during the lockdown. Our expenses on salaries, maintenance, redevelopment of bus stands continued and therefore our debt too increased,” he added.
On Monday, Manoj Chowdhari (30), who was working with the Jalgaon depot of the MSRTC, was found dead.
He left a behind a note saying he was ending his life over irregularities at his workplace and salary issues, and also blamed the State government for this.
Meanwhile, Prashant Thakur (BJP) MLA from Panvel led a protest on Tuesday demanding resignation of Mr. Thackeray and Mr. Parab for the death of Chowdhari, and another staffer Pandarang Gadde in Ratnagiri on Sunday.
(With inputs from Raina Assainar)
