The Mumbai Municipal Corporation will be rich or poor depending on how BEST works after the Mumbai Municipal Corporation provides financial support.
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Praveen Pardeshi, the newly appointed Commissioner of Mumbai Municipal Corporation, has recently announced to provide financial assistance of Rs. The announcement was warmly welcomed by public transport experts and experts. The announcement by the Municipal Commissioner is reminiscent of a famous phrase in Robert Kioski's book 'Reach Dad, Poor Dad'. According to Kiosky, 'there is a difference between being financially bankrupt and being poor. Bankruptcy is temporary. But poverty is not temporary. ' Kiyoski goes on to say, 'If a son is overcoming his financial difficulties with the help of a loan from his father, then his father is supposed to be rich. However, if a child is constantly living in the role of a beggar and living on the help of his father, then his father is considered poor. '
This sentence is very suggestive against the background of the announcement of the Commissioner to finance BEST. BEST currently has to bear a loss of Rs 858.01 crore per annum. If the day is calculated, this figure comes down to 2.35 crores. In addition, BEST has an arrears of Rs 2,600 crore. This giving needs to be done urgently. In fact, this growing loss indicates that the best services are not working at full capacity. Along with financial assistance, the Municipal Commissioner has announced to lease more than 3,000 buses to BEST. The aim is to increase the efficiency of BEST service and increase revenue by about Rs 550 crore per annum.
BEST is getting this funding at the right time when it is in urgent need. This funding is going to be a backbone for the beleaguered BEST. According to the Municipal Commissioner, the public transport system is seen as a service all over the world and financial grants are also provided to it from this point of view. With that in mind, the financial support given to BEST is a step in the right direction. But should the corporation bear all the losses of BEST? The only question is whether to compensate for the 'just loss'. In fact equitable losses should include financially impractical routes, subsidized tickets, rising maintenance costs, or costs beyond the reach of best management. The corporation does not have to take responsibility for the losses caused by BEST's mismanagement.
TFL, of course, Transport for London is considered to be one of the most efficient public transport services in the world. In 2017-18, TFL lost about Rs 6,600 crore. However, TFL did not see it as a loss. Instead, the revenue deficit was shown to be an integral part of service costs. This cost of serving the people is justifiable and should be reimbursed from the government coffers. However, no one can support losses due to inefficient management and misuse of available resources to their full potential.
This is what the Municipal Commissioner has pointed out while announcing the financial grant for BEST. BEST should explore different options to increase efficiency, he said. He reiterated the idea that BEST should hire buses on a contract basis instead of buying new buses. He also warned that the money should be used for the development of transport services.
While the municipality has taken responsibility for the financial woes of BEST’s transportation department, BEST faces many other challenges. The solution should be found by giving priority to public transport service instead of private transport service in the city. Urgent measures need to be taken such as streamlining of best routes, reserved routes for buses in important parts of the city, strict implementation of no-parking zones, use of midi buses on congested and congested routes, emphasis on providing bus service in industrial areas. There is a need to make the bus service more passenger friendly with the help of technology by studying the workings of private transport companies in the city. There is a need to prepare a Mumbai-centric plan for BEST and implement it.
If this service is not revived with radical improvements in the BEST initiative, the crores of financial assistance received from the Municipal Corporation will be ineffective. If that happened then BEST would never be able to run properly. She will have to rely only on financial support. The average speed of the best bus running in Mumbai is currently only 9 kilometers per hour. If this momentum does not increase, if BEST does not adopt new technologies, if new routes are not planned keeping in mind the population of Mumbai, the future is difficult. Otherwise, the grant to BEST will be a stepping stone in the path of the richest municipal corporation in the country.
Mumbai Municipal Corporation has played the role of responsible father by providing financial assistance to Izari BEST. However, the corporation as a vigilant parent will have to take care that BEST makes proper use of this grant. Mumbai Municipal Corporation will be rich or poor depending on how BEST follows the financial support given by the corporation.
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