Alleged non-payment of pension to retired employees of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has led to 15 suicide deaths so far, media reports say.
Following these deaths, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called for an urgent meeting to form a consortium of co-operative banks, which would pay pension to the retired employees including the dues.
In Thiruvananthapuram, a retired KSRTC employee Karunakaran Nadar, 69, consumed poison, while in Wayanad, another retired staff Natesh Babu, 68, was found hanging at a lodge in Sulthan Bathery. Earlier, another retired KSRTC employee V Roy, 59, had died following lack of money to fund a cardiac surgery.
KSRTC, which operates 5,000 buses, has 42,000 employees on its rolls and 38,500 on pension rolls.