KSEB proposes to disburse higher pension in instalments

Thiruvananthapuram: To ease the financial burden of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), the board has put forward a proposal to disburse higher pensions to retired employees in instalments. 

One of the board representatives raised the proposal during a meeting of the Pension Master Trust on June 7. However, the Workers Association, the sole employees' union in the trust, has opposed the proposal.

The board representatives have raised this proposal due to the financial implications faced by KSEB since the amount collected as the duty from customers has to be paid to the government. 

The 'Master Trust' was established in 2015 as a means to address pension arrears concerns. Both KSEB and the state government are required to make contributions to this trust. In order to resolve the issue, the board has allocated two debentures worth Rs 7,584 crore to the trust fund. 

However, the trust fund failed to receive an interest despite releasing the debentures. The Trust was also allowed to earmark the duty amount collected by the board as a share of the government for ten years. However, the amount did not reach the trust fund. This condition expires in 2023.

Currently, the board is allocating the required amount every month to the trust fund to pay the pension.