Unions welcome allocation for settling dues to retiredtransport employees in T.N.

Various transport trade unions have welcomed the State government’s move to settle long-pending dues of pension and other terminal benefits for thousands of employees of various State Transport Undertakings (STUs).

In a government order on Wednesday, the State government released ₹2,446.46 crore for settlement of pending terminal benefits such as provident fund, pension, gratuity, and leave salary commutation to 6,867 employees who retired, took voluntarily retirement between August 2024 and March 2026, or died while employed in the eight STUs.

The eight STUs include the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) of Chennai, State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), and Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) of Villupuram, Salem, Coimbatore, Kumbakonam, Madurai, and Tirunelveli.

K. Arumuga Nainar, CITU-TNSTC secretary, said it was a victory for the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) that had been fighting for several years to get the terminal benefits for the employees. When an employee retires, he should get the pension and other benefits within 30 days, but in the STUs, the employees had to wait for at least 18 months, he said.

The CITU leader thanked Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for releasing the amount. He also appreciated the State government for putting an end to the 15 years of struggle by transport trade unions for pension and other benefits. M. Shanmugam, secretary of the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), the trade union affiliated to the ruling DMK, said the Chief Minister had been taking several steps to strengthen the Transport Department, including the free bus travel scheme for women, where the STUs were compensated by the Social Welfare Department. Now, it has brought to an end the sufferings of retired transport employees with a substantial allocation of ₹2,446 crore, he added.

R. Kamalakannan, secretary of Anna Thozhir Sangam, while welcoming the move, said the amount had been released with an eye on the upcoming Assembly election.

The breakdown of the allocation for the STUs are: MTC ₹374 crore; TNSTC Kumbakonam ₹487 crore, Villupuram ₹369 crore, Coimbatore ₹360 crore, Madurai ₹294 crore, Tirunelveli ₹257 crore and Salem ₹180 crore; and SETC ₹122 crore.