With the cancellations of schedules mounting due to the termination of the 2,358 empanelled drivers and uncertainty prevailing over disbursement of the salary to the 31,000 personnel on the rolls, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has decided to rope in drivers on daily wage basis unit wise to operate the fleet.
The unit officers across the State had been asked to employ drivers on need and informal basis from Saturday in view of the weekend and puja holidays ahead.
A meeting chaired by Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran on Friday in the Secretariat also failed to come up with a concrete solution to overcome the shortage of drivers.
The meeting attended by chairman and managing director, KSRTC, M.P. Dinesh has decided to brief the High Court the gravity of the situation when the affidavit is filed.
With no solution in sight to overcome the shortage of drivers, the KSRTC decided to rely on the drivers, who had been terminated, to lessen the hardship faced by the commuters.
₹500 for eight hours
The terminated empanelled drivers will benefit from the decision and they will be paid ₹500 for an eight-hour shift. But, they will not be given any official communication on the job.
The move comes in the wake of the management’s decision not to overburden the 10,922 drivers on the rolls in the KSRTC. The authorities have been employing the drivers on double duty for the last two days to reduce the cancellations.
On the second day after the exit of the empanelled drivers, the KSRTC had to cancel 557 schedules in the State on Friday. These include 339 schedules in the south zone, 165 in the central zone and 53 in the northern zone. However, a KSRTC official said 637 schedules had to be cancelled. On Thursday, 600 schedules were cancelled.
Clueless
The management is also clueless on how to pay the salary to the personnel on the rolls and pension to the retirees.
The KSRTC needs ₹73 crore for disbursing the salary and another ₹61.5 crore for paying pension to the retirees. However, the salary, credited through the banks on the last working day of the month, could not be paid on September 30.
The rising fuel bill and the revenue from the fleet not coming up to the expected lines are cited as the reasons for the delay despite the monthly budgetary assistance from the government.
The 38,500 pensioners need not have to worry as the consortium of cooperative societies is paying pension with the government extending the guarantee. But, the monthly pension, paid on the first working day of every month, has also not reached the bank account of retirees.
