UP govt mulls pros and cons of raising retirement age

LUCKNOW : Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Uttar Pradesh government is mulling the financial pros and cons of raising the retirement age of its 16 lakh workforce from 60 to 62 years following a letter from union minister of state Santosh Gangwar, according to officials of the department of personnel and appointments.

They said the decision would have a cascading effect as employees of corporations and other local bodies, where the present retirement age is 60, are expected to demand a similar raise.

“The total wage bill of the government employees at present constitutes almost 50% of the state’s budget. This is when the hike recommended by the seventh pay commission is yet to be implemented,” said a finance official, requesting anonymity.

According to him, the expenditure on salary, pension and interest thereon paid to the government employees alone amounted to Rs 164, 181.50 crore against total budget of Rs 4.28 lakh crores for the state.

“This figure is expected to go up several notches after the seven pay commission’s first instalment, which was to be paid to the employees in October, last year but was deferred and is now due in June,” he said.

However, on the flip side, experts feel the two-year extension, apart from yielding political dividends, may provide the much-need reprieve to the state government, which is reeling

THE DECISION WOULD HAVE A CASCADING EFFECT AS STAFF OF CORPORATIONS AND OTHER LOCAL BODIES, WHERE THE PRESENT RETIREMENT AGE IS 60, ARE EXPECTED TO DEMAND A SIMILAR RAISE

under a resource crunch from farmers loan waiver, which cost the state exchequer a whopping Rs 36,000 crore.

“Of the 1.64 lakh crore wage bill, approximately Rs 70,00 crore goes in servicing retirement benefits like provident fund and pension,” he said.

While employees’ unions have welcomed the letter written by Gangwar, the opposition parties, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, have opposed the move saying it will deny job opportunities to unemployed youths.

“The government should give unemployment allowance to youths if it wishes to increase the retirement age of its employees,” said Rehan Khan, a local SP leader.

“The irony here is that the union minister is citing the example of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the states which have already raised the retirement age to 62 years. My question to him is that why the Centre is not acting on its own recommendation and increasing the retirement age of its own employees,” says Congress leader Akhilesh Singh.