Southern States
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Kerala
KSRTC pension being delayed
By Our Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 1. The payment of pension to retired Kerala State Road Transport Corporation employees is being delayed by a few days this month due to certain other pending commitments of the KSRTC.
In a press release here today, the KSRTC managing director, Mr. C. Appukkuttan Nair, said the pension would be disbursed only on January 7 this time.
The delay had occurred because the KSRTC is bound by a court directive to pay pending benefits like provident fund and gratuity to employees who had retired since March, 1997. The dues under this head to nearly 7,000 retired employees came to nearly Rs. 180 crores.
Several retired employees had approached the court demanding the payment of these dues. Giving due consideration to the financial difficulties of the KSRTC, the court came out with a formula under which 10 per cent of the daily collection of the KSRTC has to be remitted in a separate account exclusively to settle the pending dues to retired employees.
The court had also directed the KSRTC that the settlement of provident fund and gratuity should be strictly on the basis of seniority. The remittance to the separate account began in November, 2001.
Mr. Nair said the remittance to this account during the months of November and December, 2001, would come to Rs. 10 crores. This amount would be disbursed on seniority basis to the pensioners who had not received their provident fund and gratuity so far.
Since 10 per cent of the revenue was being set apart for this exclusive purpose for the last two months, the KSRTC was currently facing a cash crunch. The slight delay in the payment of pensions was on account of this, he said.
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