RTC Vishu specials fail to bring cheers

Kochi: The crisis-ridden Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), despite operating special services in the weekend on account of Vishu festival, failed to get expected daily revenue earning.

The daily earning on April 13, 14 and 15 stood at Rs 6.27 crore, Rs 5.87 crore and Rs 5.53 crore, well below the expected target of Rs 7 crore.

"The earning on Vishu day was nearly Rs 1.26 crore lesser than that of previous Monday. Usually the collection on the days before and after the festival crosses the Rs seven crore mark. This time over, the heat wave is one factor that accounted for less passengers," said a senior KSRTC official.

Interestingly, low-floor air-conditioned buses were in much demand compared to other buses. The average earnings per km for JnNURM buses were Rs 56.48 as compared to Rs 35.80 for other buses. However, daily earning in the Central region achieved the target revenue on Vishu day.

 For instance, the Ernakulam depot achieved a collection of Rs 13.74 lakh as against the target of Rs 13.61 lakh while that in Thevara depot was Rs 13.58 lakh as against the target of Rs 12.81 lakh.

Meanwhile, the corporation finally started clearing pension dues of nearly 36, 000 retired employees. The payments are usually made before fifth of every month, however, the retired staff were not paid so far this month.

"We'll distribute pension for all eligible persons by Wednesday evening," the official said. The corporation incurs Rs 62 crore towards pension payment.