Government considering proposal to reduce Retirement Age of Central Government Employees from 60 to 58 to reduce expenditure – Financial Express reports Government considering proposal to reduce to retirement age of central government employeesThis unconfirmed news would be really worrying aging central government employees if it is true. One of the leading financial daily in India has in its website reported that Central Government is considering a proposal that aims to reduce retirement of age of central government employees from 60 years to 58 years. Central Government Employees have seen the increase in retirement age from 55 to 58 in the year 1962 and from 58 years to 60 years in the year 1998, but reduction of retirement age has no precedence Though it is practically possible to show the employees the door, who are between 58 years to 60 years and who are nearing 58 years, such employees would be much affected emotionally apart from financial loss. Text of Financial Express’s report is as follows. In a move that would help curb the relentless increase in the Centre’s non-Plan spending and ease the way for infusion of more young blood and professionalism into the country’s largely moribund bureaucracy, the Narendra Modi government is planning to reduce the retirement age of central government employees from the present 60 to 58. The move that comes at a time when the Seventh Pay Commission is mulling another sharp boost to the pay structure of the Centre’s 5-million-strong workforce is also aimed at creating the requisite space for lateral entry of technically qualified professionals into the government, official sources told FE. The retirement age was last revised in 1998, when the then NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee raised it from 58 to 60 years. The last UPA government had reportedly considered enhancing the retirement age further to 62 just before the general elections, but dropped the move. The superannuation age was increased from 55 to 58 way back in 1962. The total wage and salaries bill of the central government, excluding PSUs but including the railways, rose sharply between 2008 and 2010 due to the revised pay scales (along with payment of arrears) implemented as per the Sixth Pay Commission’s proposals. The wage bill rose from Rs 1.09 lakh crore in 2007-08 to Rs 1.4 lakh crore in 2008-09, and further to Rs 1.7 lakh crore in 2009-10, before the growth moderated to Rs 1.84 lakh crore in 2010-11. The government spent Rs 2.54 lakh crore in wages and salaries in 2013-14. The railways (with 1.4 million employees), defence (civil), home affairs, India Post and revenue account for more than 80% of the total spending of the Centre on pays and allowances. Thanks to successive pay commissions, the salaries and other emoluments of government employees have, on average, more than doubled in every decade since independence even though lack of sufficient performance incentives is still considered to be a drawback. A merger of 50% of the dearness allowance with the basic salary, likely to be part of the Seventh Pay Commission’s award, which is to implemented from 2016, is expected to hike the Centre’s wage bill by a third and strain its fiscal situation. In February this year, the government hiked DA to 100%, from 90%, benefiting both its employees and 3 million pensioners. The Centre’s expenditure on pension stood at Rs 74,076 crore in 2013-14 and the estimate for the current fiscal is Rs 81,983 crore. However, growth in the outgo on pension is expected to moderate due to the National Pension System based on the concept of defined contribution, launched in January 2004. The NPS has been accepted by large sections of central government employees and most state governments have shifted their employees to the new system. According to Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings, reducing the retirement age will give the government an opportunity to outsource more jobs, including by bringing in people as temporary consultants, who will then have to be paid only a fixed salary but not pension or provident fund. Their salary component will then show up as administrative costs, rather than as wage bill. The finance ministry is weighing the pros and cons of the proposal to cut the retirement age. The move, sources said, is also in line with the BJP’s manifesto, which had promised to rationalise and converge ministries, departments and other arms of the government, open up government to draw expertise from industry, academia and society and tap the services of the youth in particular to contribute to governance. Source : Financial Express Filed Under: News Tagged With: retirement, retirement age Recent Posts in GConnect How to compute Income Tax Liability ? FAQ of IT Dept December 2, 2014 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement for Bank Employees – IBA Press Release December 2, 2014 Increase in DA from January 2015 estimated to be 6% or 5% December 2, 2014 DA Merger, Interim Relief Rejected by Govt – Confederation Analyses 6 Months Tenure of Govt December 2, 2014 One Rank One pension – Reply of Defence Minister December 2, 2014 Ceiling for Purchasing Goods in Military Canteens December 2, 2014 The Senior The Retirement Security System Web hosting services Comments Pankaj Sahu says December 2, 2014 at 4:36 pm Can Modi Ji fix retirement age of political people and businessman ? Muralidhara says December 2, 2014 at 12:20 pm Lowering the retirement age of Central government employees has its merits and demerits ; It also depends on the nature of work being done by the employee; one cannot apply a common rule for various professions ; it may well be applicable to administrative cadre and definitely not for professionals engaged in teaching , research and allied academic fields; So what it essentially means is that there has to be differential retirement age depending on the kind of work ( creative?, cerebral ?) the employee is engaged in . For example: UGC has a retirement age of 62 for teaching faculty (State universities0 and 65 for Central univ; etc. There is a valid reason for this; Similarly the research scientists working under various agencies ( eg ICMR, ICAR , CSIR) may be allowed to work beyond 60 ( heard there is a proposal to increase the retirement age to 62) ; Hence the government should deeply deliberate on this issue and also clarify their current stand ( if any ) prior to creating a lot of heartburn ( heart attacks?) to the senior workers . Raj Kishore Sharma says December 2, 2014 at 11:44 am I am cetral government employee . If it is done practically, PM will do the tremendous work for young generation, as they will get the job. REITESH says December 2, 2014 at 10:06 am I am in full agreement with the view point of Sh. S.R. Sabapati on the issue. The position should be considered from all aspects especially those will be sufferer by the decision taken at the Eleventh Hour. There may be lakhs of such employees in India who were looking forward to increase the Retirement Age to 62 from 60 as per decision taken by the Government earlier. However, instead of increasing the age, it has been reduced which will badly affect the employees and their families. If say there are 10 lakhs employees, with the average 5 persons to support in the family, the number to be affected will be 50 lakhs. Think about this number. These employees have made certain plans for these two years which will be shattered and their anguish will be against the present Government. They are really thinking whether Good Days have come? It would have been better if this change would have come gradually i.e. it would be better if a time period is given say those of 56 years as of now should be given a clear understanding that their retirement will be on attaining 58 years so that they are prepared accordingly. However, those who are 58 years or so and are serving, if this decision is implemented, it is a shock and psychological loss to them in the form of loss of salary and eligible benefits on per month/annual basis for two years The Govt. should consider this proposal. saam shanker says December 1, 2014 at 10:56 pm who is telling a person at 58 will provide a less output than a person at 30, what is the age the persons involved in various committee, what is the age of our leaders? what is the age of our ministers Mr Arvind who tells you the young is better to combact corruption, what is the age of the person who recently led the movement for Lokpal bill, and Mr Rawat had the young kept the country on fast track we wont look for experienced leader and our what calculation Mr Arvind applied for GDP estimation GOD knows. Mr Pravakar tell me how much percentage of job central Govt is offering out of total opportunity only 5%, and what about 95% we have to boost self employment and our economy, But i cant say anything on cost cutting policy that is upto the Govt and Govt has to come with proper explanation. thank you all Mahesh Chander says December 1, 2014 at 9:30 pm The age of Govt. servant does not matter much as far as efficiency of the Government functioning is concerned. It is the system/way of working which has to change. Rules have to be simplified. In the present set up the young blood remains young only up to four to five years after joining the service. There is no motivation, no reward for good work. The seniority is fixed according to the rank of exam passed, which remains unchanged throughout the service. Umesh Dwivedi says December 1, 2014 at 7:38 pm It is ok to reduce the retirement age but there should be some changes for the politicians because they have got more salaries and perks.There should be minimum qualification for enter in the politics. And the retirement age of politicians should be as per the center govt employees retirement age. And salary structure is like govt emp’s and their salary should be come under pay commission and revised after 10 years and if pension of employees to be cancelled then same policy may be adopted for the politicians also. Ranson says December 1, 2014 at 7:25 pm It is indeed a welcome proposal. Govt must reduce the retirement age progressively to 58 to facilitate young blood to get into central services. The present young blood are tech savvy and better suited for job than the ones who are 58 plus and clinging on to the govt post. MMRao says December 1, 2014 at 6:57 pm I am a . PSU employee. I really appreciate modi govt policy of reducing retirement age to inject new blood in the system. This action will give employment to millions of unemployed youths. I can understand the frustration of un-employment. Long live MODIJI.I Pray to GOD MODIJI Long Live Pradeep Singh says December 1, 2014 at 4:05 pm This is a fantastic move by the Government. Even though if there is little disadvantage, this would be temporary and of no far-reaching consequences. This is young India which needs to have younger people to serve. This will result in less expenditure, more productive officers. However, it is to be seen if the top bureaucrat, who may be affected, scuttles the move. They will do so since it does not suit them. RAJA S K says December 1, 2014 at 3:36 pm Figures bust myth India’s bureaucracy is “bloated” As per published news article in THE HINDU ,dated: January 30, 2012 03:36 IST India has only a fifth as many public servants as United States, relative to population. The highest ratios of public servants to population among the Indian States are in the conflict-torn or border regions Long reviled for being bloated, India’s Central and State governments in fact have just a fifth as many public servants as the United States, relative to population. The figures raise doubts, ahead of a Union budget that is likely to slash social-sector spending, on whether the country has the personnel it needs to improve governance and ensure universal access to services like education and health. Data compiled from multiple sources, including a 2008 official survey, Right to Information applications, media reports and the 2011 census show, India has 1,622.8 government servants for every 100,000 residents. In stark contrast, the U.S. has 7,681. The Central government, with 3.1 million employees, thus has 257 serving every 100,000 population, against the U.S. federal government’s 840. This figure dips further if the 1,394,418 people working for the Railways, accounting for 44.81 per cent of the entire Central government workforce, are removed. Then, there are only about 125 central employees serving every 100,000 people. Information technology and communications services account for another 7.25 per cent of the Central government’s staff. Eminent economist V.K. Ramachandran says: “One of the most important lessons of the economic history of modern nations is that the most crucial requirements of social transformation can only be delivered by the public authority. A government that does not pay for skilled personnel to deliver education, health and land reform is one that condemns its people to under-development.” The Central government’s figures also show that 59.69 per cent of public servants belonged to Group C and another 29.37 per cent to Group D — the two lowest paid categories. Though these workers are important, the numbers suggest there are system-wide shortages of skilled staff and administrators. Interestingly, the data show a marginal decline of 0.13 per cent in the size of the Central government in 2008 from 2006, though the population grew. “People keep complaining the government is too big,” says Ajai Sahni, director of the New Delhi-based Institute of Conflict Management (ICM), “but the figures show that it is in fact too anaemic to govern the country.” The ICM, which spent over a year assembling the data, discovered that only some States even had centralised records on their employees — and there were no published estimates of staff members needed to realise new development objectives. The highest ratios of public servants to population among the Indian States are in the conflict-torn or border regions, where the Central government has made special funding available for enhancing employment in an effort to contain discontent. Thus, Mizoram has 3,950.27 public servants per the 100,000 population, Nagaland 3,920.62 and Jammu and Kashmir 3,585.96. Bar Sikkim, with 6,394.89 public servants per 100,000, no State comes close to the international levels. For the most part though, India’s relatively backward States have low numbers of public servants. This means staff members are not available for the provision of education, health and social services needed to address the worst kinds of poverty. Bihar has just 457.60 per 100,000, Madhya Pradesh 826.47, Uttar Pradesh has 801.67, Orissa 1,191.97 and Chhattisgarh 1,174.62 This is not to suggest there is a causal link between poverty and low levels of public servants: Gujarat has just 826.47 per 100,000 and Punjab 1,263.34. The data could explain, though, why even well-off States like these have found it tough to ensure universal primary education and eradicating poverty. Population is increasing. The Government Welfare Schemes are increasing along with budget. Governments should have basic minimum manpower atleast to identify and outsource services and monitor the quality of services rendered by private parties.Government should first fill up all vacant posts. Ensure regular and timely promotions. All over the world the trend is to increase the retirment age depending on the life expentency. sanjeev says December 1, 2014 at 2:56 pm I really op[pose the action of modi government for reducing the retirement as I have planeed for beter education of my wards who are still in secondary eduction and now will get adm,ission for higher techinical education . I am feared how i will manage the expenditure for their higher education. I strongly oppose for the hashed decision of govt. The age of employees should not be less than 60 years. Gautam Sinha says December 1, 2014 at 2:10 pm life span of Indian People has been increased substantially. It would be not wise to make a person old by promulgating law, rather, the experienced work force may be utilised for development of India. Further, presently the retirement age of Supreme court judge is 65 years. whether they are also going to be retired for the sake of wiser judgment would be expected from younger one?We can hope all M.Ps and MLAs should retire from politics after age of 58 years. Naresh says December 1, 2014 at 1:27 pm If this happens it amounts to immediately dismissing about 2 lakhs employees for no fault of them. For others too it is same fate. But the pay-outs for this would amount to about 50000 crores. Where is the money ? May be Govt. will not pay retirement benefits too. Big challenge for Modi. Will he do it ? JEEVAN says December 1, 2014 at 1:03 pm Reducing the retirement age from 60 to 58 years is a welcome move from indian youths. It will also help to clear the stagnated promotions to junior employees. I would like the modi government to implement it immediately.. Rajeev Menon says December 1, 2014 at 12:55 pm This was expected from the Modi Government as the plan was on the cards. Though a miniscule section of govt employees are bound to be aggrieved, in the larger interests of our great nation,and the unemployed youth in particular, this is THE RIGHT MOVE. Debasish Gupta says December 1, 2014 at 12:15 pm Increase in the retirement age from 58 to 60 was implemented in 1998 by the central government on the recommendation of 5th pay commission. In fact BJP in their manifesto in 1998 had promised to raise retirement age of govt. employees to 60 in accordance with recommendation of the 5th pay commission. I feel what should be the retirement age of govt. employees should be decided on the basis of recommendation of an expert body dealing with pay and other benefits of govt. employees. Decision like raising or lowering the retirement age to suit some political party’s should be avoided. The raising of retirement age from 58 to 60 was supposedly done due to increase in the longevity of Indian people and considering other parameters by an expert body. I find no reason to reverse the decision without going into the subject by an expert body. The farsightedness of our Ex Prime Minister Sri Atal Behari Baxpai, who had increased the age giving cognizance to the recommendation of an expert body like pay commission, will be questioned, if the present BJP leadership decreases the retirement age to 58. The bogey of argument that young people will get job is unfound as even today there are n- number of vacancies in Govt. department which are not being filled up. G Satyanarayana Sinha says December 1, 2014 at 11:08 am
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 05:28:17 +0000
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