BEST Diwali bonus faces poll code hiccup

MUMBAI: BEST employees may have rejoiced when the Diwali bonus of Rs 9,100 was announced on Friday night, but that excitement was short-lived. The wait for the bonus to come into their bank accounts may now be longer, with the election code of conduct coming into force on Saturday.
The bonus proposal needs a clearance from the BEST committee, which comprises members from various political parities who will not be able to clear the proposal with the code of conduct prevailing.Unless BEST seeks special permission from the election commission, workers may have to wait till the election process is over to receive their bonuses. Sunil Ganacharya from BJP said the proposal will come up for discussion at the committee meeting on September 27.
Panel members Ravi Raja from Congress and Ganacharya said that BEST could have announced the bonus eight days ago, when BMC and other departments announced bonuses for their workers. It could have then been brought before the panel for a speedy clearance.