THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government's plan to disburse KSRTC pension arrears by next Wednesday is unlikely to work out as three of the five remaining days (including Saturday) are holidays for banks, reports TOI.

Earlier, the government decided to disburse the pension arrears by taking a loan from a consortium of cooperative banks.

Nearly 40,000 retired KSRTC staff are awaiting their pension for five months. The corporation requires nearly Rs. 60 crore to pay monthly pension and the total pension arrears stand at Rs. 224 crore.

Minister for cooperation Kadakampally Surendran said that an amount of Rs. 284 crore (to clear pension dues) will be given in the first instalment and a total fund of Rs. 584 crore will be paid to settle KSRTC's pension problems.

Nevertheless, working president of transport democratic federation R Sasidharan felt that the government had little time on its hands.

"With three holidays from Saturday, it is unfair to give false hope to pensioners that their pensions will be paid on time,” he said.