KOCHI: The High Court ordered that the amount deducted by KSRTC from the salary of the employees to be paid towards the participation pension scheme and life insurance policy should be paid to the accounts of the respective schemes within six months. The bench of Justice Satish Ninan clarified that the amount deducted from the salary cannot be allowed to be spent on other expenses. The judgment of the single bench was decided by the petition filed by 106 employees including Palakkad native SA Sunish Kumar.

Since 2014, when the Participatory Pension Scheme was introduced in KSRTC until now, Rs 333.36 crore has to be paid this way. KSRTC had given an affidavit yesterday that due to the financial crisis due to Covid, only Rs 81.73 crore has been paid and Rs 251.63 crore is pending. 15 crores are needed to pay the dues of the petitioners it self. It is not possible to set aside such an amount from the monthly collection in the current situation. The High Court should direct the government to provide assistance for this.

More than 9000 employees are in the participation pension scheme. Apart from the share from their salary, the share of KSRTC should also be paid. The single bench did not accept the arguments that even though it was explained that the corporation was in dire financial straits and even the payment of employees' salaries was supported by the government.