BEST general manager Jagdish Patil has proposed putting a cap on the petrol allocation per month of Grade 1 to 4 officers and a few Grade B officers who have been given the privilege to save the loss-making undertaking '40 lakh annually.
The BEST Committee passed the proposal commending Mr Patil on the move as he put a cap on his own petrol use from 100 litre to 65 litre per month. In the new proposal, petrol allocation for the highest Grade A officer too will be capped at 80 litre per month, down from the earlier 120 litre per month.
However, BEST Committee members like Sunil Ghanacharya were opposed to the proposal. “I do not want those people who put in their sweat and blood trying to do field work for this organisation and the public to feel that we make them work as hard with as little money as possible. I do not want them to be bitter towards the administration,” he said.
Another member Shivjit Singh said that in a bid to save money, BEST should not give the impression that it does not care for its employees. “It seems petty cutting their petrol by 2 to 2.5 litre every day,” he said.
On the other hand, members like Ravi Raja, Kedar Hombalkar and Yakub Memon seconded the proposal. Mr Raja said, “This kind of initiative by top grade officers will send out a message to the public that we are not just asking them to choose BEST over an auto or taxi to save the institution but cutting on our own expenses and trying to save money.”
Mr Patil said that the move should not be looked at as a way to harass BEST officers but a way to save the undertaking, “I think the officers should realise that we don’t mean to give them grief but we need to stop taking money that otherwise would be kept in the BEST’s treasury,” said Mr Patil.
Some Grade A officers who had come to meet Mr Patil said, “This is a bad move because this is limiting the amount of field work we can do, the sites we have to inspect. I think this move will go against Mr Patil.”
