IF Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh announces raising of Indian civil servants’ retirement age to 62 years in his Independence Day speech on August 15, as is speculated by a section of media, over one lakh government employees who would have retired during the next two years, will gain immediately. Whereas majority would stand to gain by this move, provided it materializes, the proposal would make a few babuz unhappy too. babu blogger here makes an attempt to analyze who among the top bureaucrats will gain whereas who will actually lose thanks to this decision.
Why Govt May Announce It
In a drought-hit year which will continue to witness impacts of continuing global economic meltdown, the government may like to lessen its financial burden by this innovative mechanism. Whereas government’s salary budget will go up, it may save more money by not paying the retirement benefits such as gratuity etc. Also, it may earn goodwill among the government employees.
Who among top bureaucrats gain?
Though every officer will gain out of the decision, it’s better for 90 IAS officers who would have retired between August 15 to December 31, 2009. They can now postpone their post-retirement plans by two years. According to babu blogger’s calculation, 509 IAS will be retiring in the next two years beginning August 15 this year, and this could be the happiest lot. For the record, there are 1,237 IAS officers in the age group of 56-60 years.
Also, if retirement age is increased to 62, Kerala cadre IAS of 1972 batch and secretary in Planning Commission Sudha Pillai, will again be a contender for the cabinet secretary’s post once the present incumbent K M Chandrasekhar’s term ends next year. Read "Pati, Patni and Post: It's Sudha Pillai vs. G K Pillai for next cabinet secretary", published on May 11, 2009.
Who among top bureaucrats lose?
As many of the present secretaries will remain on their posts, if the retirement age is increased by two years, those in 1976 batch would have to contend with posts like special secretaries who don’t get a chance to manage a department or ministry independently. Also, 1979 batch IAS officers who would have been additional secretaries soon will have to wait longer to get vacant slots.
Raise Of Retirement Age In The Past
For the record, the age of superannuation was increased from 55 to 58 following the 1962 war with China during Jawaharlal Nehru’s time. It was then raised to 60 in 1998 by the NDA government.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Will Dr Manmohan Singh prescribe 62 as retirement age for govt employees? If it happens, who gain & who lose…
IF Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh announces raising of Indian civil servants’ retirement age to 62 years in his Independence Day speech on August 15, as is speculated by a section of media, over one lakh government employees who would have retired during the next two years, will gain immediately. Whereas majority would stand to gain by this move, provided it materializes, the proposal would make a few babuz unhappy too. babu blogger here makes an attempt to analyze who among the top bureaucrats will gain whereas who will actually lose thanks to this decision.
Why Govt May Announce It
In a drought-hit year which will continue to witness impacts of continuing global economic meltdown, the government may like to lessen its financial burden by this innovative mechanism. Whereas government’s salary budget will go up, it may save more money by not paying the retirement benefits such as gratuity etc. Also, it may earn goodwill among the government employees.
Who among top bureaucrats gain?
Though every officer will gain out of the decision, it’s better for 90 IAS officers who would have retired between August 15 to December 31, 2009. They can now postpone their post-retirement plans by two years. According to babu blogger’s calculation, 509 IAS will be retiring in the next two years beginning August 15 this year, and this could be the happiest lot. For the record, there are 1,237 IAS officers in the age group of 56-60 years.
Also, if retirement age is increased to 62, Kerala cadre IAS of 1972 batch and secretary in Planning Commission Sudha Pillai, will again be a contender for the cabinet secretary’s post once the present incumbent K M Chandrasekhar’s term ends next year. Read "Pati, Patni and Post: It's Sudha Pillai vs. G K Pillai for next cabinet secretary", published on May 11, 2009.
Who among top bureaucrats lose?
As many of the present secretaries will remain on their posts, if the retirement age is increased by two years, those in 1976 batch would have to contend with posts like special secretaries who don’t get a chance to manage a department or ministry independently. Also, 1979 batch IAS officers who would have been additional secretaries soon will have to wait longer to get vacant slots.
Raise Of Retirement Age In The Past
For the record, the age of superannuation was increased from 55 to 58 following the 1962 war with China during Jawaharlal Nehru’s time. It was then raised to 60 in 1998 by the NDA government.
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it is ok for for the babus and they could contribute for the nation. The country will be benefited from their experience...But what about tens of millions of unorganised workers...they should also get retirement benefits...we should also think about their pensions and other benefits...
ReplyDeleteSunil, Chennai
we are disappointed.we wanted to hear a line or two from our Prime Ministar about our second instalment of arrear & also about the age of retirement. Suparna,Kolkata.
ReplyDeleteWe were expecting Hon'ble P M would make announcement about increase of age of retirement however pehaps it is only a rumour far from truth . Person who about this may like to share with all of us . Love & regards .
ReplyDeleteWhat is latest regarding increase of retirement age to 62 years. i am very eager to know. can anyone tell?
ReplyDeleteI think govt will taake adequate decision for raising retirement age to 62 after election result and Dipawali festival-Sudarsan Pradhan
ReplyDeleteRetirement age, in no circumstances, should be enhanced to 62 year. Rather it should be lowered. Let the deadwoods be weeded out. Amakudari has become a deep rooted practice in this country. The civil servants like politicians want power and authority till death. However, the politicians have to pass the litmus test every 5 years and come good in that. No such requirement is prescribed for bureaucrats. Those bureaucrats who fail to get absorbed into political spectrum desires be to be Chairman / Members / Advisors of various Boards, Tribunals, and Committee under the control of government to satisfy their desire for unbridled authority. To meet their post retirement ambitions, they create such institution during their service career with prime focus on themselves. Such is their unsatisfied desire for power, authority and freebies. The amount of expenditure to sustain top echelon, i.e. Joint Secretary and above in the Government of India itself would be mind boggling.
ReplyDeleteMost of them have endless governmental resources at their disposal such as band of vehicles, army of officials to take care of their “BEGAR”. The government vehicle runs to drop and pick their kith and kin whole day and night. Someone should tell them that they survive on TAX PAYERS hard earned money. Millions of Dollars are spent of their maintenance everyday in this country.
Most of them have failed to uphold Rule of Law. They are so stratified on the basis of caste, religion, region, language that they failed to uphold Equal Protection of Law to the people of this country in last around 58 years of democratic functioning. They are more faithful to their henchman rather to the Constitution of this country. So corrupt they are morally that they accept bribe even under the Sign displaying that “Taking Bribe is Criminal offence”. They are so pliant and spineless and can stoop to any extent for getting a small thing like a posting. They are instrumental in the spread of lawlessness and have failed to uphold Rule of Law in more than 15 states of this country.
This bureaucracy is not a steel frame rather a spider web which is unable to sustain the pressure even a drop of water. Have they ever been held accountable? One must ask at whose cost all these freebies are enjoyed by them and with what face they are pleading before PM for extension. Due to this Amakudari, Indian Bureaucracy is termed as worst even in Asia. Shame on all those who are asking for extension of age of retirement.
Raj
what govt is taking decision to increasing retirement age to 62 once it have announced. If there is confusion for increasing, I thing if the retirement date is uniform i.e.31st December every year, the crises of economy and pensioners will get there pension in right time as there pension papers will be cleared before their retirement as D.A. and increment is in uniform way and the same will be cleared before November
ReplyDeleteIn any Govt Office/Industry/Factory the employees first give preference to their personal work during office hours without any hesitation. Govt. is more worried about them, are they question themselves what they have done to Govt. If Govt. increase two years extra to do their own extra work at Govt. cost , Govt. have to think many times. Rather Govt. have to think of increase in working Hrs automatically that will comprise 62 Years, that 2 years working Hrs. can be fitted within 60 years, instead of dragging another 2 years and making payment it can be helpful to youngsters like IT Com. etc. who can even work for 12 Hrs. a day. The proposal also should be economically meaningful By K.K. -Pune.
ReplyDeleteWe are expecting such a move of raising the Retirement Age By 65 & not only 62 as it will benefit many employees across India.Also after facing a drought hit year and one of the biggest recession in the century the Govt.should consider and raise the retirement age substantially by 65 years and not mere 62.Seeing the current lifestyle and rising Prices of Food Products this announcement of raising the retirement age will be a Welcome Move FROM OUR Government.Also 60 is not the age for Retirement as most of the people find themselves that they could have contributed more to the govt. and Society if they would have been allowed few more years to work.Rather Government can Introduce SCHEME in which those who want early retirement they can do so after going through a Simple Process.
ReplyDeleteAlso it will help our Counry's Economy to get in a better shape after passing through a DROUGHT HIT Year and a WORST Recession. Mr.PM we have expectation from you...Hope You are LISTENNG...
inidan gov. should increze the age limit of emplyees to 62 as economist i give this advice to gov.it will save money of gov. which can be helpfull for them in other areas...and if our president can work at the age of 74 an primen minister can work at the age of 75 why dont our emplyees should not work till 62 ............gov. also get votes of millions gov.emplyees by making them happy...because of "menghai" gov. izzat jo chali gayi he use vapis lane ka yahi ek rasta he....
ReplyDeleteAs an economist i give advise to gov. incrize age to 62 as soon as possible....
ReplyDeleteIt is the need of the hour to raise the retirement age of government employees as it will be beneficial for both the government and the employee.
ReplyDeleteGoverment should have increase the retirement age 60 to 62,because the employees can give their more vluable 2 years for goverment work.
ReplyDeleteGovt should increase the retiring age of its all employees(including defence forces)to 75years so that our old country feels more comfortable with old people.
ReplyDeleteNo. It should never be increased. It will benefit only few and create frustration among many middle level officers. It will block promotion for next two years. in case Government want to retain anyone after 60 years let the Govt. appoint them as Consultant.
ReplyDeleteMY BIG NO TO ENHANCEMENT OF RETIREMENT AGE TO 62 YEARS.
NO TO INCREASE OF RETIREMENT AGE
ReplyDeleteYES TO INCREASE OF RETIREMENT AGE
ReplyDeleteIt will certainly be more detrimental to increase the retirement age. As Govt tend to
ReplyDeletelose more on a/c payment to those employees who are
already drawing the maximum salary. Moreover
at this age employees productivity goes down
and they are more bogged down with domestic worries like settling thier children.
S P Sharma Gurgaon
Increasing the retirement age to 62 years would be a very disastrous decision for our Country. Please note that in PSUs many senior executives have stopped executing even their day-to-day chores and duties with three years to go for their retirement. The irony here is that they draw hefty sums as salaries (after pay revision) which is totally unjustified for the work they put in. The soon-to-retire are not at all contributing to the development of this nation and are a big liability to the tax payers. In fact, a study with a sample population should be undertaken on "Efficacy of human beings after 60 years in professional work places; A behavioural psychological profile of the Geriatric populace"
ReplyDeleteWhat is the use of retaining the weired lot of officers and workers, who are unable to walk, apply mind and physical strength for the benefit of organisation? They are more concerned with their free treatments of themselves and their family members and using the office time for this and manipulation.
ReplyDeleteGovt should think of getting rid of these dead wood by reducing the retirement age to 58 and give opportunity to young blood.
It is heart wrenching to note the proposal of our babu turned PM to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62. If the idea is to save costs, why to save costs in this superficial and cosmetic way. This move also has the potential of cutting short the shining careers of hundreds of able babus, putting brakes on the intake of new babus for another two years in a young nation and a fast growing economy of ours, allowing an ageing group of babus to continue to rule at the helms without possibility of contribution of any new thought or reform or initiative or value add by this lot and preventing fresh youth - mind and energy to enter bureaucracy for another two year period. This move will prove to be counter productive and significantly harmful for our growing and developing nation.
ReplyDeleteIf at all the babu turned PM wants to cut costs in government there are more fruitful and productive ways to do so.
One is to bring in accountability and performance oriented appraisal system for existing babus. Give them measurable quantitative targets on delivery, costs, delays and timeliness, transactiuonal and process efficiency, cost savings, pilferages reduction, etc. and measure their performance on those. A scientific, objective and transparent appraisal system would have to be put in place for these babus in place of the existing nineteenth century colonial strictly subjective appraisal system. Achievement against those targets must be incentivised and falling short on targets must be punished by means of negative ECRs, demotion, holding of increments, collecting losses caused to exchequer etc. This is relatively easy to implement and can save thousands of crores of rupees (and not just a few hundred crores by increasing retirement age) besides gaining manifold improvement in governance, compliance and delivery of welfare and development schemes to people thereof.
Secondly, ushering in Project Management principles (used globally by both private and public sectors) into our system of governance and mandatory use of computers and technology by babus and their staff can bring in objectivity, transparency, compliance and discipline in the monitoring and controlling of central goivernment run projects and schemes execution and delivery. With the help of Project Management principles, project execution performance can easily be measured on parameters of milestones achieved, costs, time, risks, compliance, etc. This will save another thousands of crores. Babus, engineers, etc. can be easily trained on project management principles.
Measures to integrate, share and democratise data and enable timely availability of this data can immensely help timely decision making in government, avoiding duplicity and proper compliance and which can save another thousands of crores.
Cutting down discretionary authority, laying down robust processes, procedures and systems, leveraging technology, etc and monitoring and independently auditing compliance against laid down processes and rules and procedures is eminently doable by government can save additional several thousands of crores besides providing good , tight governance to people of India in the bargain.
Amending archaic constitutional provisions which have lost utility in order to match the needs of present and replacing administrative laws of nineteenth and twentieth century which have not matched the needs of twenty first century and which has perpetrated huge corruption and which have helped marginalisation rule of law must be taken up as priority by our PM in this direction.
Likewise there are a whole host of measures which are eminently doable and which can save huge amount of money and improve governance if undertaken.
A BIG YES TO INCREASE RETIREMENT AGE TO 62 YEARS
ReplyDeleteA large section of beaurocrats are indeed not in favour of any increase in the present retirement age of 60 years. It is only those handful who r on the verge of retirement are hoping to get some more years even if they are already in the retirement mode.We owe some responsibility towards the younger generation also. Imagine the plight of millions of boys n girls who are on the lookout for jobs when the retirement age is enhanced.I feel srongly that all govt. servents irrespective of their servise/cadre/rank/seniority should retire at the prescribed age and there should be no extension whatsoever to any one who ever he or she may be.We often see many beaurocrats lobbying for their post-retirement rehabilitation through their political bosses.This is indeed a very sorry state of affair. How can u expect someone to write his unbiased opinion if he is out to please his boss only to gain some favour.I am of firm view that there sould be no increase in the retirement age n no extension/ re-employment to any beaurocrat however senior he/she may be.
ReplyDeleteRakesh Sharma
Aug 9th,2011
I don't agree with the opinion of Shri Rakesh Sharma, Retirement age should be increased by 2 yrs ( up to 62 years ). It would be a good step of govt if executed in time. We are at large waiting for some positive announcement on 15th August 2011, youth will never be affected by doing so, as we are the witness from last many years, they are happy with MNC's ,only . No one infact attracted by govt for appointments.rest of all are joining govt by various competetive examinations, Hence it right time to announce the increasing the retirement age to 62 years.
ReplyDeleteMost of the countries in the world are maitaining the retirement age of their Govt./PSU employees above 60 yrs (62-65). It would be in the fitness of things, if Indian Govt. keeps the same in line with these countries. Nothing wrong!
ReplyDeleteDetermine the appropriate age that fits the service. The government has to study the options.
ReplyDelete