Thiruvananthapuram, February 20 : Leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday poured scorn on the CPI(M)-led LDF government for holding an inaugural function to mark the resumption of the distribution of pension to retired employees of KSRTC.
Chennithala termed the inaugural function a step too far, pointing out that the pension disbursal at the public transport utility came to a halt only after the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government came to power.
“The LDF government put KSRTC pensioners to severe hardship for five months by denying them pension. Many of them committed suicide. They suffered without being able to afford even to buy medicines,” Chennithala wrote in a facebook post.
Eventually, the KSRTC pensioners launched an indefinite stir, which forced the government’s hand to initiate steps to resume pension disbursal to them, the opposition leader added.
As such, the chief minister today inaugurated a function to resolve a crisis of the LDF government’s own making, Chennithala quipped, terming the inaugural function as preposterous.
The inauguration should have been preceded by the adoption of a resolution to honour the memory of those pensioners who took their lives due to the government’s cruelty, Chennithala’s post said.
Meanwhile, minister for cooperation in the LDF government Kadakampally Surendran kicked up a storm by saying that pensioners had committed suicide before too.
Speaking at the function to mark the resumption of pension distribution to KSRTC retired employees, Mr. Surendran said that this was not the first time that KSRTC pensioners had committed suicide.
The minister also pointed out that 26 KSRTC pensioners had committed suicide during the previous UDF government’s tenure.
