THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The decision of a special Cabinet meeting on Monday to grant Rs14 crore a month to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) for the next two months has brought a ray of hope to the organization.
Officials said the corporation operated the maximum possible services on Tuesday -- 4,866 out of a total of 5,870.
After the financial aid was announced on Monday morning, the administration has been trying to maximize the schedules and coverage. On Monday, 4,776 out of the 5,870 services were operated. The corporation could operate only 4,634 services the previous Monday.
At Rs 5.15 crore, the collection registered on Monday went up by Rs 27.73 lakh, compared to the figure registered on January 21. While 15,20,819 kilometres were covered on January 21, the coverage was increased to 15,23,459 kilometre on Monday, an increase of coverage of 2,640 kilometres.
At the same time, authorities are worried whether the state government would allot the offered financial aid on time. "We were informed that it would take at least 15 days to get the cash transferred. If the aid is delayed, it would derail all the financial adjustments that we will be carrying out in the coming days to purchase diesel," said a top KSRTC officer.
Meanwhile, KSRTC employees noted that the additional financial burden since diesel subsidy was withdrawn would amount to nearly Rs 16 crore a month. Both the KSRTC and the state government are planning to cancel about 1,000 non-profitable schedules step-by-step, they said. That is why the corporation has sought only Rs 14 crore a month as financial support from the government. If about 1,000 schedules and 5,000 kilometre coverage is reduced, the additional financial burden for purchasing diesel could be reduced to Rs 14 crore, they pointed out.
"At the same time, the passengers will be at the receiving end of these steps being introduced by the authorities to tackle the financial liabilities," pointed out an employee.
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