Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said the government cannot keep on paying the loss-making Kerala State Transport Corporation’s salaries and pensions month after month.
The KSRTC should learn to stand on its own feet and put its house in order.
Referring to the financial crisis in the KSRTC, Dr. Isaac said here on Saturday that the government was devising a package to save the utility.
He hoped the corporation would break even in the next “three or four months”. He also said the government was willing to find the money to install CNG engines in KSRTC buses. This was expected to cost a huge amount of money.
“We can mobilise the money required for the CNG conversion from the market and other sources,” he said. “But we need an assurance that the KSRTC will not waste that money too.”
The corporation should take drastic steps to improve its efficiency, to increase its revenue and jack up its productivity.
There were two crucial factors for turning the corporation around, Dr. Isaac noted. The first was that the KSRTC should immediately raise its productivity at least to the national average.
Currently the national average was 5.5 km per litre, while the KSRTC’s was just 4.2. This situation cannot go on for long. Secondly, the managerial system at the KSRTC should be revamped. The financial management was particularly a mess.
“Without addressing these issues, the government will not pay for the losses the KSRTC is making every month,” he said.
