EDITORIALS
BEST under Threat of Privatisation
The BEST bus strike in Mumbai and its underlying issues exemplify the lacunas in India’s urban public transport.
F
or nine days—from 8 to 17 January 2019—Mumbai’s
roads were bereft of one of its historical identity mark-
ers, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport
(BEST) buses. These buses are the backbone of daily commute
for lakhs of people, who were put through immense incon-
venience and even trauma during this period. Those who live
in areas that are not serviced by other modes of public and
private transport were particularly affected with students
even unable to travel to write their examinations. However,
there are two aspects that stand out about this strike by the
Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking
Workers’ Union. One, even though this was the longest such
agitation in recent times, public and commuter sympathy was
with the workers. Despite the divisive tactics of the Shiv Sena-
affiliated unions, workers remained steadfast under the lead-
ership of the joint action committee. Along with the fairness
of their demands, what drew public sympathy for the strike
was the perception that they were also fighting in the general
interest of public transport. Two, despite the buses being back
on the roads after the Bombay High Court intervened, the
general feeling is that the BEST will either be in private hands
soon or it will be deliberately neglected to benefit other modes
of private transport. Neither of these scenarios bode well for
the future of public transport generally and for the inhabit-
ants of Mumbai.
The BEST buses provide services in Mumbai city, its suburbs,
Mira–Bhayander, Navi Mumbai and Thane. Over the past
couple of decades, the undertaking has been in its death
throes, signalling yet another institution falling prey to bad
urban planning, privileging of private players over government
services, and scant regard for the common citizen’s public
needs. This is, of course, an all-India phenomenon brought on
by rapid and unplanned urbanisation and bad governance. In
the case of the BEST, the selling away of many of the plots of
prime land on which its depots stood, cancellation of routes
on grounds of non-profitability, increasing bus fares, poor
mechanical maintenance, and a decreasing workforce have
been matters of public knowledge.
The case of the BEST is illustrative of how urban public trans-
port in India has been hostage to piecemeal and unholistic
urban planning and governance. The emphasis of the authori-
ties on stopping the so-called unprofitable routes and poor
investment in its infrastructural maintenance and growth are
counterproductive measures. It is common knowledge that
public transport in developing countries cannot function with-
out suitable government subsidies. The BEST authorities must
look at ways of running the undertaking such that it will help
cross-subsidise “losses” and finance investment to bring it up-to-
date. The BEST workers are also demanding that the undertak-
ing’s budget should be merged with that of the Brihanmumbai
Economic & Political Weekly EPW JANUARY 19, 2019 vol lIV no 3
Municipal Corporation (BMC). This is an important demand
that must be considered.
Instead, as in other Indian cities, the emphasis and priority
of planning road transport is on car-centric projects. The
authorities also point to decreasing ridership numbers and
patronage. But, this in itself points to poor planning. It is ridic-
ulous to imagine that the vast population of urban commuters
anywhere in the country would deliberately prefer expensive
private transport for daily use. Road congestion, poor pedes-
trian facilities that force pedestrians to walk on roads due to
non-existent pavements, and thoughtless concessions to the
automobile industry have all come together to ensure that
BEST services seem time-consuming and unviable to the regu-
lar commuter. An offshoot of this predicament is that the reli-
ance on two-wheelers has increased not just in Mumbai, but
across urban India, leading in many cases to further congestion
and traffic snarls. An efficient public transport system is indis-
putably a better choice over individual motorised transport.
In 2016, the Supreme Court had struck down the continu-
ance of BEST’s cross-utility model. Predictably, lack of funds led
to dwindling services and investment in resources. Not only
did the workforce numbers come down, but the post-retirement
benefits of a large number of workers were curtailed. Since
then, the BMC has often advocated wet leasing (contracting for a
certain period from another company) buses. During the recent
strike, the BMC authorities reiterated the suggestion that only
part privatisation would save the undertaking. As the example
of many states that have hardly any road public transport
shows, privatisation too is not really the answer. Privately op-
erated bus routes are dictated by profitability, not the needs of
commuters; private operators pay their employees abysmal
wages and pack their ill-maintained vehicles way beyond ca-
pacity with no regard to passenger safety.
This strike in Mumbai and the issues of the BEST point more
than ever to the dire need for policy shifts and change in
priorities. No Indian city can function at the optimum level
without a wide network of public transport. Most importantly,
the government must desist from focus on the automobile
industry and car-centric solutions. The biggest bugbear, how-
ever, is the availability of funds for public transport at the state
and local government levels for expansion and modernisation.
These aspects will also determine the quality of air and the
efficiency of traffic in India’s cities.
This is decidedly not an easy task and will call for the
involvement of citizens’ forums and transport unions anchored
by a strong political will. Given the rate of urbanisation in the
country, the BEST’s example must serve as a beacon to all other
cities. This strike has underscored the pivotal role of collective
action by workers in shaping the character of cities and urban
life as a whole.
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