THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: 2560 people have retired from KSRTC after 2023. 998 more will retire by May. However, not a single vacancy is reported to the PSC. While lakhs are waiting for jobs, the opportunity of 3558 people is being denied.

369 drivers, 271 conductors, and 21 higher division officers are retiring this year. The rest are ministerial and mechanical employees.

The corporation and the transport department are of the opinion that there is no need for permanent appointments of so many people in the midst of severe financial difficulties. It is estimated that when the number of employees decreases, the amount required to give salaries and other benefits will also decrease.

There was a five-year ban on appointments since 2018 to reduce the number of employees in proportion to the number of buses. Employees were redeployed to fill vacancies that arose during this period. The ban ended in 2023, but the situation continues.

Increasing pressure

The corporation's current practice is to employ temporary drivers and conductors to run services. Meanwhile, there are complaints that the workload has increased with the reduction in people in the mechanical and office departments. Even in the chief office, there is a situation where those who arrive at 10 am are unable to leave the office even at 8 pm. The functioning of workshops is also out of sync. There were also reports that premature deaths are increasing in the corporation due to work pressure.

Untimely deaths in KSRTC:

2024: 64

2025: 17 (so far)

Till three years ago, KSRTC operated 5200 services daily. However, as the number of employees decreased, the number of services was also reduced. Now, an average of 4000 services are operated. Bus services, including on rural routes, have been cut. This is on the pretext of no income. The Transport Department did not budge, despite complaints from people, including politicians, that services were cut even on routes that were making a profit. Instead, the department issued permits to private buses in large numbers. The last Transport Authority meeting decided to issue permits to private buses on 500 routes.