MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court told the Tamil Nadu government that it is high time it took a policy decision to solve the financial problems faced by its transport corporations.
Justice R Suresh Kumar made the observation after a former managing director of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC)- Madurai division, one SV Subbiah, was constrained to move the court seeking direction to TNSTC to disburse his surrender leave salary and Social Security Scheme benefits which had not been settled due to the corporation’s financial crisis.
Pointing out that several retired employees of TNSTC face similar problems, the judge called it a pathetic situation that has been continuing for several years and may prevail for several more years, considering the department's financial condition. He wondered why the government was facing so much difficulty when private bus operators made considerable profits despite operating in very few numbers and routes.
The time has come for the government and TNSTC to introspect as to how the financial situation of the latter can be improved and take a policy decision if needed, so that the department can function smoothly without financial constraints and its retired employees are not driven to the court to getting their service benefits, the judge observed.
With further directions to the TNSTC-Madurai to disburse the pending service benefits to Subbiah in three months, he disposed of the petition.