By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The cash- strapped Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) has to shell out Rs 17 crore to pay to as many as 105 employees who have applied for voluntary retirement under Voluntary Retirement Scheme.
With the fund constraints, the MTC is planning to carry out phase wise sanctioning of money to the employees who wish to go for the golden hand shake.
In the past as many as 207 employees had availed VRS.
Transport Minister AT Mondal told reporters on Wednesday that currently Rs 58 lakh is spent per month to pay salary to the existing 306 employees and with provident fund the amount would be Rs 66 lakh.
The Meghalaya Transport Corporation Workers Union on Monday suspended the proposed agitation following an assurance from the MTC management that the two months’ pending salary would be paid to the employees.
Mondal said that the staff strength of over 500 was inherited by MTC since the formation of State in 1972.
Earlier, a report of the Assembly Committee on public undertakings had expressed concern over the poor performance of MTC between 2007 to 2010.
The report had made it clear that Corporation was a loss making unit due to over staff and pension liabilities coupled with poor management of the fleet.
The report had said that the main liability of the corporation was on account of the salaries paid to the ministerial and the mechanical staff. The expenditure incurred by way of salary exceeded the earnings of the corporation.
According to the report, the average operating cost for the past three years from 2007-08 to 2009-10 was more than double compared to the average traffic earning.
The corporation has a pension liability of Rs 15.22 lakh per month.
The committee had also asked the corporation to increase its revenue generation by way of putting up hoardings on buses, opening of shopping malls in all the transport complexes in the state wherever feasible among others.
The committee also wanted the government to introduce goods transport as there was a bright scope of earning more revenue from this initiative.