A demand has been raised to increase the retirement age of Maharashtra government employees from 58 to 60 years. The Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers’ Federation has urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to consider changing the existing retirement age for state government employees.
In a letter dated August 10, the Federation pointed out that the Central Government and 25 states have already adopted a retirement age of 60 years for their employees. It has argued that Maharashtra should also consider a similar policy.
According to the Federation, the Central Government increased the retirement age of its employees to 60 years in 1998. Subsequently, 25 states also adopted a retirement age of 60.
The Federation has cited these examples while requesting the Maharashtra government to reconsider the current retirement age of 58 years.
The Federation has also referred to the recent decision concerning the retirement age of judicial officers in Maharashtra.
Following an interim order of the Supreme Court, the state government has decided to increase the retirement age of lower-court judicial officers to 62 years.
While welcoming the move, the Federation has argued that state government employees should also be given the benefit of a higher retirement age.
The organisation has invoked the Right to Equality under Article 14 of the Constitution while seeking a review of the existing retirement age.
The Federation has also highlighted the large number of vacant positions in the Maharashtra government.
It claims that against approximately 7.19 lakh sanctioned posts, around 2.75 lakh posts are vacant, accounting for nearly 35% of the total sanctioned strength.
The Federation further claims that vacancies increase by around 3% every year as employees retire.
It has also raised concerns over the appointment of some retired employees on a contractual basis instead of filling vacant posts through regular recruitment.
The Federation believes that increasing the retirement age from 58 to 60 would allow the government to retain experienced officers and employees for an additional two years.
According to the organisation, retaining experienced personnel could help the administration make better use of their knowledge and expertise. It has also argued that postponing retirements could provide the government with some financial relief by deferring expenditure related to retirement benefits.
The demand to increase the Maharashtra government employees’ retirement age from 58 to 60 years has now been placed before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The Federation has urged the state government to seriously consider the proposal, citing practices followed by the Centre and several states, the shortage of government staff and the need to retain experienced employees.
Any change, however, would require a decision by the Maharashtra government after examining the administrative, financial and legal implications of the proposal.
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