A day after the Supreme Court took away its right of fuel subsidy, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was on Tuesday forced to cancel over 2,000 bus services across the state on Tuesday.
According to sources, the corporation has cancelled most services that fetch less than Rs 7,000 a day. While the corporation has 5,300 buses, it normally operates 5,000-odd services a day. In Thiruvananthapuram alone, the corporation cancelled around 300 services on Tuesday.
However, the corporation officials denied any such move and said winding up of schedules was not on agenda. According to them, any solution to the crisis thrust upon by the SC verdict could be devised only after the state cabinet discuss the present situation and recommend an action plan.
“Of course, we had effected some changes in the schedule on Tuesday. But it was only because of staff shortage due to Onam as also due to want of enough passengers on many routes. No service has been cancelled on account of loss of subsidy cover on fuel price,” said KSRTC executive director (operations) K M Irshad.
Meanwhile, transport minister Aryadan Muhammed reiterated his opinion that without additional financial assistance and fuel subsidy, the corporation would soon meet a natural death. “The state cabinet would discuss the present crisis. If a solution is not found out, the functioning of the corporation would come to a grinding halt,” he said.
“If anybody blames the corporation employees for the present crisis, I am not ready to agree on that. KSRTC employees are yet to get 36% of their DA arrears. Still they are cooperating to the maximum. We have no plans to cut the benefits of the employees, nor we have plans to cancel concessions to students and free passes to people’s representatives, media persons, physically challenged and the like,” Aryadan told reporters.
The loss of subsidy cover means the corporation will have to dole out Rs 17.40 more per litre of diesel. If the situation doesn’t improve, the loss on account of fuel price hike alone would cross Rs 1,000 crore a year. The corporation is already running at an annual consolidated loss of Rs 2,000 crore. At present, the daily loss for the corporation is Rs 3 crore. With the subsidy on fuel, KSRTC used to save Rs 8 per litre of diesel.
Meanwhile, Kerala State Road Transport Employees’ Association ( KSRTEA) has warned the corporation against any move to cut down the number of schedules on account of the present crisis.
“If the corporation is thinking about solving the problem by cancelling services, we are not going to allow such plans to materialise,” the association working president K K Divakaran said. “The state government should step in and take a policy decision. The corporation should be given tax concessions and enhanced budgetary support and additional capital investment,” he said.
Thiruvananthapuram: A day after Supreme Court took away the right for fuel subsidy Kerala State Road Transport Corporation was forced to cancel over 2000 bus services across the state on Tuesday.
According to sources, the corporation had cancelled most services that fetch less than Rs 7000 a day. While the corporation has 5300 buses, it normally operates 5000 odd services a day. In Thiruvanannthapuram alone, the corporation cancelled around 300 services on Tuesday.
However, the corporation officials denied any such move and said winding up of schedules were not on agenda. According to them, any solution to the crisis thrust upon by the SC verdict could be devised only after the state cabinet discuss the present situation and recommend an action plan.
Of course we have effected some changes in the scheduled on Tuesday. But it was only because of the staff shortage due to Onam and also due to want of enough passengers in many routes during the height of the festival. No service has been cancelled on account of the loss of subsidy cover on fuel price”, said KSRTC executive director (operations) K M Irshad.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Aryadan Muhammed reiterated his opinion that without additional financial assistance and fuel subsidy, the corporation would very soon meet a natural death. The state cabinet would discuss the present crisis. If a solution is not found out, the functioning of the corporation would come to a grinding halt”, he said.
If anybody accuses the corporation employees for the present crisis, I am not ready to agree with such observations. KSRTC employees are yet to get 36 per cent of their DA arrears. Still they are cooperating to the maximum. We have no plans to cut the benefits of the employees, nor we have plans to cancel concession for students and free passes to people’s representatives, media persons, physically challenged and the like. ”, Aryadan told reporters.
The loss of subsidy cover means, the corporation will have to doll out Rs 17.40 more per litre of diesel. If the situation doesn’t improve, the loss on account of fuel price hike alone would cross Rs 1000 cr a year. The corporation is already running at an annual consolidated loss of Rs 2000 crore. At present, the daily loss of the corporation is Rs 3 crore. With the subsidy on fuel, KSRTC used to save Rs 8 per litre of diesel.
Meanwhile, Kerala State Road Transport Employee’s Association (KSRTEA) has warned the corporation against any move to cut down the number of schedules on account of the present crisis. If the corporation is thinking about solving the problem by cancelling services, we are not going to allow such plans to materialize”, the association working president K K Divakaran said.
The state government should step in and take a policy decision. The corporation should be given tax concessions and enhance budgetary support and additional capital investment”, he added.
Source: Times of India
