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Commuters across the state were left stranded on Friday following the day-long strike called by a section of the employees of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), who were protesting the delay in their salary disbursement.
Stranded passengers and long queues could be seen in many bus stations. Meanwhile, minister for transport Antony Raju criticised employees for taking commuters for a ride. The government said it will impose dies-non (no work, no pay) and said that the direct action of the employees will only aggravate the situation.
Though majority of the trade unions supported the stir, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), trade union wing of the ruling CPI(M), kept away from the strike.
Only 10 schedules (trips) worked in the morning instead of 200 in the state capital. The long-distance travellers were the worst affected amid the strike.
Battling loss for several years, the government had been putting in money toward the ailing KSRTC for long but recently it asked the corporation to find its own ways to attract revenue and stopped assistance resulting in the big crisis. The employees have been getting their salaries in a staggered manner from the last few months.
“It is a fact that KSRTC is in a crisis. And direct actions like strike will aggravate the situation. Employees will have to stand with the management to find a way out,” said the minister.
But the Transport Democratic Front (TDF), associated with the Congress, said that the government has failed to give an assurance on timely disbursement of salary.
The KSRTC said that it needs ₹82 crore monthly for salary expenses but the revenue left after fuel expenses is around ₹50 crore, creating a big gap between revenue and actual expenses. The employees have also been insisting that their salary should be disbursed before the fifth of every month. Among the 58 loss-making public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the state, with an accumulated loss at ₹ 510 crore, the KSRTC topped the list in 2021.
BLURB Only 10 schedules (trips) worked in the morning instead of 200 in the state capital
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