The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is in a severe financial crisis and the utility may have to lay off a section of employees if there is no major turnaround in situation in the coming days, Transport Minister Antony Raju said on Tuesday.
Stating that the salary of employees cannot be disbursed on time if the crisis continued, Mr. Raju said the increase in fuel prices had crippled the revenue of the corporation.
He said the KSRTC would have to spend an additional ₹38 for a litre of diesel it purchased now compared to the diesel price in December. This had resulted in an additional expenditure of ₹40 crore for fuel alone.
In this circumstance, it would have to explore cost-cutting measures. The corporation was also mulling of introducing the Madhya Pradesh model scheme to save money by offering employees leave with payment of half salary, Mr. Raju told mediapersons.
However, employees’ unions said flawed policies had resulted in the poor performance of the KSRTC.
Even though COVID-19 cases were declining, only around 3,300 buses of the total 5,500 buses had been pressed into service, said Pradeep Sreedhar, president, Kerala State Transport Employees Union.
A meeting will soon be convened in the capital to discuss the crisis in the KSRTC. The meeting may take a call on revising the fares in line with the fare revision effected for private buses.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the KSRTC was the casualty of the quixotic SilverLine project. He accused the government of suffocating the corporation while going ahead with the expensive rail project.
With the KSRTC giving the profitable routes to the KSRTC-SWIFT, a legally independent company for operating long-distance buses of the KSRTC for 10 years, the new entity would become profitable in a few years and the remaining services would become a liability for the corporation, he said.
