Thiruvananthapuram: The loss-making Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has plunged into a crisis as a severe cash crunch and inability to mobilize funds have yet again delayed the disbursal of salary to its employees.
The corporation requires over Rs 25 crore to pay the salary arrears for September alone.
As a short-term solution to the crisis, the management decided to mortgage its 64th bus depot as collateral security to avail loan, but it did not materialize as the bank worked only half-day on Saturday.
By evening, the management decided not to pay arrears in two installments, and said the full amount would be paid to the staff on Monday. They hoped that the disbursement of arrears would be completed on Monday after finishing the loan process.
The management has made it clear that it would look into the pension arrears only after completing the disbursement of salary.
Adding to the crisis, the general managers who were on deputation in the finance wing returned to their parent departments over the past week, throwing the functioning of the department haywire.
Top KSRTC officials revealed that around Rs. 30 crore was available with the corporation, and it needed to mobilize only Rs. 25 crore to pay the arrears.
The transport utility needs over Rs. 55 crore per month for paying salary alone. The corporation was in a similar situation last month as well, and it overcame the crisis by availing a loan of Rs 80 crore by mortgaging its Perumbavoor depot.
The management was hoping to utilize the balance amount to pay salary for September on time, but as the launch of the buses under the BS-3 fleet was due, the amount was used to purchase spare parts for them.
About 190 chassis were lying idle in various workshops across the state, and the corporation had to spend a major chunk of the loan amount to get them ready for the launch.
The KSRTC cannot take any further loan from the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) from which it had availed a huge amount as loan over the years.
It is now forced to take loans from funding sources or bank consortium’s by mortgaging depots to repay the loan taken from the KTDFC.
Out of the 93 depots, it has already mortgaged 63 for loans to wade through the crisis.
Of the remaining 30, five depots are being used by the KSRTC as workshops that do not generate any revenue, they cannot be presented as collateral security against the loan.
When depots are mortgaged, the KSRTC stands to lose the daily collections from them as the whole revenue would go towards repayment of the loan. Under the circumstances, the corporation is forced to survive on the income from other depots.
The management has not yet decided on the depot to be mortgaged now.
If the government fails to intervene to improve the financial situation, the KSRTC would plunge into a severe crisis in the near future, officials warned.
News – Manorama Online
