mumbai a day after two msrtc staffers allegedly died by suicide due to nonpayment of salaries the state government on tuesday announced a rs 1000crore financial package for the lossmaking body for six months transport minister anil parab who announced on monday that employees will get two months pending salaries before diwali on tuesday said all three months pending salary will be released before diwali we released a months salary and a festive advance on monday the remaining two months salary will also be released before diwali said parab senior officials said cumulative losses msrtc made have touched rs 3000 crore and the transport department had initially sought relief of rs 3600 crore from the state which considering the states financial position was not feasible times viewwith the state offering a rs 1000crore bailout package to msrtc to pay pending salaries and meet other immediate expenses the nearterm situation at the transport undertaking looks stable employees can take heart from the fact that salaries for the lockdown period are assured but the road ahead poses challenges even if the government partly subsidises the corporation it will still need to find more ways to mobilise revenue and reduce its dependence on handouts in the long run a professionallyrun enterprise is the best safeguard for the workforcethe relief package given by the state will help us bring the state transport corporation back on the roads this may not help us make it profitable but will help us continue with basic expenses like diesel and maintenance of buses said parab sources said chief minister uddhav thackeray agreed to bail out msrtc and the money to be given in instalments was approved at a meeting with finance minister ajit pawarof rs 1000 crore being given as part of the bailout rs 300 crore will be used to disburse two months salaries sources said msrtc will give a job to next of kin in the case of the suicides involving a driver in ratnagiri on sunday and a conductor in jalgaon a bus driver said it is a good gesture by the government but sadly it happened after two lives were lost if the government had the money it should have given it in the past few months as salaries on timethe government financial packages of rs 550 crore in september to pay salaries for may and june and now rs 1000 crore to pay three months salaries will boost the morale of workers especially a 70000strong force of drivers and conductors who are risking lives during covid to ferry lakhs said union leader shrirang bargea senior official said msrtc will not only depend on government funding but will explore areas to generate revenue it launched sttrucks for goods transportation across maharashtra few months back and deployed more than 700 such vehicles which are generating good business the corporation is also setting up petrol and diesel pumps to earn extra the official said msrtcs revenue has touched rs 7 crore but is way behind precovid