Vijayan asks KSRTC MD not to issue public comments on corporation

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 18 (IANS) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come down heavily on Managing Director of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Biju Prabhakar, and asked him not to issue public statements against officials and employees arbitrarily.

The IAS officer at the KSRTC helm will be meeting the trade union representatives on Monday and brief the Chief Minister after the meeting on the developments, sources in KSRTC told IANS.

Prabhakar last week in a press conference said that a section of officers and employees were not doing their duties properly and some of them have been indulging in turmeric and ginger farming while accepting huge salary from the corporation which is falling into deep debts.

The KSRTC managing director had also lashed out against the executive director of the corporation and said that this officer was responsible for misappropriation of huge funds from the organization. The officer, Sreekumar was transferred to Kochi immediately.

CITU leader and Member of Parliament Elamaram Kareem had come out against the KSRTC Managing Director and said that he should not speak on such matter in public.

The INTUC and BMS had also come out against Biju Prabhakar.

Prabhakar, it is learnt have communicated to the Chief minister that a section of employees are responsible for the crises faced by the corporation and that some officials who were working at the headquarters were responsible for scuttling all development plans to put the loss making body on track.

He said that even CNG buses were not used for plying as certain employees wanted to pilfer diesel from the vehicles.

The KSRTC is planning a subsidiary company SWIFT to fund the development of the corporation including purchases of buses.

The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) will be funding the formation of SWIFT and the required amount for the purchases of the buses. The unions are in collision course on this stating that this would lead to the KSRTC providing backdoor employment and to reduce the number of permanent workers.