On 21 June, the Kerala High Court ordered that the salaries of the employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) should be disbursed by the 5th of every month, as was the earlier practice.
Earlier, KSRTC had also been directed to ensure that its drivers, conductors and mechanics were paid first before the supervisory staff. This order will still hold true.
The HC’s interim order states that KSRTC should use the revenue earned in the month of June to pay the salaries for the month of July.
The Court maintained that it was because of the employees that KSRTC was earning any revenue at all, and therefore, it is only fair and professional that this revenue be used to pay the staff their salaries first before using it for any other purpose.
While the management of KSRTC feels that all its financial issues will be solved if it earns a revenue of about Rs 8 crore, the high court has asked that there be conducted a serious and high-level audit into the issue.
The Court drew attention to the fact that KSRTC owed over Rs 3,000 crore to banks. Therefore, just paying interest would drain the revenue it earns, leaving little for salary disbursement.
If it weren’t for all the money that KSRTC owes to the banks and financial institutions, the organisation would not be incurring so much loss.
