Overview
- Unions representing BEST employees withdrew a three-day indefinite strike late Sunday after marathon talks with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other officials.
- The government agreed to interim monthly increases of ₹3,000 for permanent BEST staff and ₹2,000 for wet-lease workers and directed that pending gratuity dues be cleared within the current financial year.
- Officials also pledged a multi-year revival plan that includes procuring 5,000 electric buses and steps to increase the share of BEST‑owned vehicles while further demands are to be negotiated in the coming fortnight.
- Bus services began returning to roads on Monday but ran below normal levels, with turnout data showing roughly 57% of scheduled services operating by the morning after resumption.
- The stoppage had paralysed Mumbai’s civic bus network that carries about 2.4–2.5 million passengers daily, forced use of MSRTC and private buses for NEET students, and exposed long‑running issues over budgetary funding, contractor reliance and absorption of wet‑lease workers.