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Nearly two months ago, Kundu had announced that at least 1,000 employees of five ailing transport corporations — State Transport Corporation, Calcutta State Transport Corporation, Calcutta Tramways Corporation, South Bengal State Transport Corporation and North Bengal State Transport Corporation — will be asked to avail the VRS scheme. The government had even announced that Rs 100 crore has been set aside for the VRS. But the CITU’s consistent opposition has not led to any progress in this regard.
“Yes, we had to stop the scheme,” Kundu, who is also a CITU leader, told The Indian Express. “We are still having talks with various unions. Let us see what happens,” he added. Sources in the department, however, said that the scheme has been virtually scrapped.
“It baffles us why the minister made such an announcement at the first place because CITU would never allow it to happen,” said a senior official of the transport department.
After the demise of former transport minister Subhas Chakrabarty, who objected to any retrenchment of employees, the government pushed for reforms in the five ailing transport corporations which has 22,000 people on its rolls. The government, which is already facing a severe financial problem, hopes to save Rs 400 crore by initiating such steps. It had hired a private consultant Deolite to make an assessment of the companies. The CITU had then vehemently opposed government’s move to act on the report.
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