Thiruvananthapuram: The disbursement of the pending salary of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) staff will begin from Monday, Dec 20, its Chief Managing Director Biju Prabhakar announced.

The amount which was set aside for contributing to the Provident Fund (PF) of the staff is now being utilised for disbursing salary, the CMD said.

This drastic move was resorted to as the state finance department refused to grant the required money, he reasoned.

The KSRTC had sought Rs 60 crore from the finance department to pay the salary of the staff; however it sanctioned half of it, Rs 30 crore, and this amount was adjusted by banks against dues on loans. A portion of the money from the daily income was being utilised for depositing the mandatory monthly contribution for the provident fund, life insurance premia and national pension scheme.

The CMD urged employees organisations which are boycotting duties at present to withdraw their stir and carry out their duties.

The public transporter has been registering a loss of Rs 3.5 crore daily because of the boycott since Friday. Last Monday, the corporation had registered a record income of Rs 5.79 crore the first time after the resumption of services following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic curbs.    

The same income was to be received on Friday. However, it fell to Rs 4.83 crore. If the employees' boycott work on Monday it will aggravate the KSRTC's financial position further.

A few days ago the state government had announced salary revision for employees by hiking the basic pay. The revised salaries will be effective from January 2022.