Photo: Mathrubumi Archives
Kollam: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is struggling to operate bus services during Christmas season due to shortage of bus and staff. Consequently, passengers across the state are stranded in nationalised routes.
About 600 buses and adequate number of staff were deployed for Sabarimala special services and this affected normal services in the state. Several buses are left unused in KSRTC depots due to staff shortage. It was decided to impose duty surrender to overcome this crisis.
Duty surrender was implemented for the first time since the Covid outbreak. Drivers and conductors who work overtime will be paid Rs 650 and Rs 630 per day respectively.
It is alleged that KSRTC failed to foresee the holiday rush and make arrangements accordingly. Even the consultation meeting on duty surrender was called at 1 pm on the eve of Christmas. It is also estimated that there was an increase of 20-40 per cent in revenue during the past few days.
Union representatives alleged that the decision to bring buses under district common pool (DCP) and to massively transfer employees had resulted in this situation. They also came out against the management's claim that KSRTC has an excess of 766 drivers and 705 conductors.
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