Retirement age of govt staff may be raised to 60 soon.... With the ruling BJD getting ready to capture power for the fourth consecutive time in Odisha, chances of a hike in the retirement age limit of State Government employees from 58 to 60 look bright. While several Ministers and senior lawmakers of the regional outfit have pressed for the retirement age rise, the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was yet to take a call on the matter, official sources said. The State Government has been offering sops to all sections of people, including the poor, women, students, teachers, self help groups (SHGs), members of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and several others. The BJD Government is yet to announce any major sops for its employees, said a senior lawmaker, who has time and again favoured the idea of hike in age limit of the Government employees in view of the increase in the average life span and the general improvement in the health status of people. The State Government, it may be noted, had announced the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for its employees on the eve of the last Assembly election, which was lauded by the three lakh plus Government servants. The move helped the BJD a lot as Government employees and their families voted for the regional parties in large numbers. Taking a cue from the experience last time, the State Government needs to give a Big Bonanza to the employees, said a senior Minister. He said several Ministers have also approached the Chief Minister in this regard and hoped that the decision would be announced soon. Secondly, the mismatch between the rate at which employees are retiring from services and fresh blood being inducted into the state bureaucracy has resulted in a large number of vacancies in almost all the departments, directorates and district offices. There are simply not enough employees to implement the host of schemes being announced by the state government, rued a Principal Secretary. The State Government must take a call on the issue soon, said he. Till date, at least 16 state governments, including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Tripura, have already taken the lead to raise the age limit of their employees from 58 to 60. More states are taking steps to raise the age of retirement of their employees.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:38:09 +0000
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