Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has disbursed the second instalment of the February salary to thousands of its employees. The uncertainty over the part payment ended after the Corporation drew Rs 12 crore from its daily collections and also made use of another Rs 30 crore loan allotted by the State Finance Department.
The first instalment of the salary was paid on February 5, a day after the Finance Department handed over Rs 30 crore. The Corporation requires a sum of Rs 84 crore to meet its monthly salary requirements. Of this, Rs 70 crore is disbursed as salary to the employees while the remaining amount will go towards paying up their insurance and related expenses.
Though the employee unions have collectively voiced their objection to the disbursement of monthly salaries in two instalments, the management maintains it does not have any other option.
Now, fuel bill to be settled
After settling the salary dues, the KSRTC now will have to arrange additional funds for paying up the dues on fuel bill. These are in addition to the fund to be set up this month on the direction of the High Court.
The Corporation is required to arrange Rs 10 crore before March 31 for implementing the High Court order that Rs 1 lakh each of the overall pension benefits due to 994 persons who retired after 2022 should be paid within 45 days. It has been also directed to set aside 10 per cent of the monthly income towards the pension fund.
The Corporation will also have to meet the six-month deadline set by the court for paying up Rs 252 crore towards settling the insurance and National Pension Scheme dues of its employees.
CITU demands lumpsum salary
Meanwhile, the CITU state committee has strongly objected to the payment of salary to KSRTC employees in different installments and demanded that the amount should be disbursed as a single instalment.
In a statement, the CITU state general secretary Elamaram Kareem has pointed to it as a clear violation of the terms of the agreement struck during the meeting, while also making it clear that the responsibility of disbursing salaries to the employees rests with the management.
A meeting of the employee unions convened by the Chief Minister on September 5, 2022, decided that the salary would be paid within the first five days of every month. This, however, could be implemented only for a single month.
