Kerala High Court tells KSRTC to pay salary to peons, sweepers at the earliest

The Kerala High Court on Monday ordered that sweepers, garage mazdoors, peon/office attenders, whether regular or on contract, be also paid salaries along with drivers, conductors, and mechanical and store employees before giving salaries to the supervisory personnel.

Justice Devan Ramachandran, while hearing a petition relating to the payment of salaries to the KSRTC employees, said these persons were from the lowest strata of society and certainly required to be granted the same benefits as was ordered by the court in the case of drivers, conductors and others.

The court also said the basic amenities of the KSRTC required to be modernised and bettered, particularly wash areas and toilets, so that more people would come back to the KSRTC for travel. There must be a ‘Back to KSRTC movement’ and this would certainly be possible with the initiatives the court was willing to oversee.

The government pleader submitted that the government had released ₹20 crore to the KSRTC as an interim measure and that a high-level committee had already begun its unofficial meetings.

The counsel for the KSRTC submitted that for the first time in several months at least, the KSRTC had registered a surplus of ₹3.52 crore last month, and explained that this was on account of the fact that some expenditure had come down. If the KSRTC was able to make a few changes in its operations, it was impossible that the target of ₹8 crore a day from ticket collections could be achieved.

He also told the court that unions had stopped their agitation in front of the offices of the KSRTC and were actively supporting the corporation.

The court observed that the survival of the KSRTC was vital and not even a whispering mention of its closure at any point could be countenanced because it provided direct and indirect employment to large sections of people and was used by over six lakh people every day.

The court also directed the KSRTC to ensure that, as far as practical, the next month’s salary be paid on the fifth or at least by the tenth of the month.