A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has directed the KSRTC to use ₹25 crore each from the ₹50 crore released by the State government for paying salaries to KSRTC employees for the months of July and August and disburse one-third of the salary in cash.
The Bench also ordered that credit facility be extended to employees who had opted for the same through vouchers/coupons which could be redeemed at any of the government-owned stores and outlets such as Hantex and Consumerfed for buying provisions/clothes and so on. The vouchers/coupons should be of a value equivalent to two-thirds of the salary and festival allowances due to the employees. The vouchers/coupons should have a validity of six months.
The employees who had not opted for the credit facility would be entitled to treat the two-thirds portion of their salary as arrears of unpaid salary, the court ordered.
The wages by way of cash and credit components should be disbursed to them on or before September 6, the court said.
The Bench passed the directives on an appeal filed by the State government against the single-judge’s directive to the government to release ₹103 crore as sought by the KSRTC for paying salaries to the staff.
