THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cooperative Department will take over the pension commitments of the KSRTC, which has been plagued by irregular disbursement of pensions, according to Cooperation Minister Kadakampally Surendran.
The department has formulated a plan for the purpose on the Chief Minister’s behest, he said Kadakampally said the Chief Minister was quite pleased with the department’s efforts in this regard and as Cooperation Minister he felt elated as well. According to him, the KSRTC pensioners numbering around 38,000 will no longer need to worry about receiving their pensions.
“The pension amount of `284 crore, including the arrears and the pension for the month of January, will be disbursed by next month,” he said.The cooperative societies with financial stability coming under each local body will be entrusted with the pension commitments. Also, the cooperative banks could disburse the pension at the houses of the pensioners.
He said for the first six months, the KSRTC will have to disburse `584 crore including the arrears amounting to `284 crore. The state government is giving guarantee for `605.7 crore including the interest. According to Kadakampally, once the pension conundrum is solved the KSRTC can wriggle out of the crisis.The period of bank loan at the rate of 10 per cent interest will be for five years.