The government has put brakes on the move to put a cap on monthly pension to the retirees of the cash-strapped Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).
The decision to this effect had been communicated at the highest level following opposition from the Kerala State Road Transport Pensioners’ Organisation and the trade unions, official sources told The Hindu .
The decision had come at a time when the Transport Department was awaiting a political decision to execute the proposal aimed at finding a permanent solution to the disbursal of pension.
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This is a big relief to 38,516 retirees who were still to get full pension for October and November and part payment for the balance of ₹10,000 for the months of June and September.
The proposal was to limit monthly pension in the KSRTC to either ₹20,000 or ₹25,000. The Corporation needed ₹59.67 crore for disbursing pension every month and half of the money was provided by the State.
Through this move, the management was aiming to put an end to the claims of the retirees and pensioners’ organisations that the pension rolled out in 1984 when N. Sundar Nadar was Transport Minister was statutory. The High Court ruled in 2014 that the pension extended to the KSRTC employees was the same statutory pension enjoyed by the State government employees as per Part III KSR.
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The KSRTC was eyeing on the savings due to increase in DA, festival allowance, and revision following pay commission reports. As contributory pension had been introduced from April 1, 2014, KSRTC did not have to bother much about the employees who have joined after this date.