The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is looking for government help to stay afloat as it is faced with one of the worst financial crisis in recent times.
The management of the State transport utility was groping in the dark regarding the payment of pension arrears to the 37,000-odd retirees. They had not been paid since June and the arrears was Rs.111 crore, sources said.
With sources such as the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) getting dried up and Finance Department refusing to budge to requests for assistance, uncertainty prevailed over the payment of pension.
The corporation had restricted pension to Rs.8,500 and Rs.9,000 on several occasions but even that cannot be thought now.
Gap comes downThe only solace was that the revenue-expenditure gap had come down from Rs.93 crore to Rs.78 crore, sources said.
Official sources told The Hindu that the move was now to pay at least Rs.2,700 each to the retirees as a temporary measure from the funds of the utility after seeking the approval of the High Court.
The KSRTC had not remitted the contribution of the employees, deducted from their salaries, to the provident fund office since March. The contribution to the LIC had not been remitted for the past five months and loan recovery amount to the banks and societies for the past seven months, sources said.
Employees, who managed to get the salary despite the crisis, were apprehensive over the 42 per cent dearness allowance (DA) that is due to them.
The management would have to find funds for disbursing the DA in two instalments in September and November, sources said.
The observations of the High Court and the need to come up with a permanent solution to end the woes of the transport utility had been putting pressure on all those concerned.
