; The State government on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that the pension liability of retired Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) employees could be met if the State released 50 per cent of the amount due to the corporation
In an affidavit, Antony Chacko, Chairman and Managing Director of the Corporation, said all efforts had been made to place before the government the details of accounts in order to get the the funds from the government. It said the revival package was being implemented.
The affidavit said the corporation was compelled to meet its pension liability from its operating revenue. When the operating revenue came down, the corporation was forced to borrow from financial institutions and banks at substantially higher rate of interest. This had pushed the KSRTC into “a whirlpool of debt.” At present, the pension liability was estimated at about Rs.1.50 crore per day and the loan repayment, including principal and interest, was more than Rs. 2 crore a day. The liability on the corporation for meeting the pension was so huge that in spite of an increase in operating revenue at intermittent intervals, no progress could be made in terms of financial stability.
The affidavit was filed in response to a contempt of court petition filed by a group of KSRTC pensioners against the government for its failure to implement a High Court directive to quantify the amount due to the KSRTC and disburse less than half of such amount.
