Bhopal: The chief minister announcement of increasing retirement age from 60 to 62 years has evoked mixed response. While some employee unions have welcomed the decision saying that it will give employees their due promotion. However, there are others who claimed that the only 20 per cent employees will reap its benefit as over 75 percent employees in the state are already enjoying the higher retirement age benefit up to 65-70 years.
CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday announced raising the retirement age of state government employees to 62 years from the current 60 years. Chouhan raised retiring age on ground that appeal regarding reservation in promotion is pending in Supreme Court and because of which employees were not able to get promotion.
The government doesn’t want any employee to retire without him getting his due promotion, the chief minister said while making the announcement. The state government had made a provision for reservation for SC/ST employees in promotion, which was set aside by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The state’s appeal against the order is pending in the SC with the latter ordering a status quo.
Madhya Pradesh Thritiya Varga Karmchari Sangh (class-III Employees Union) general secretary Laxminarayan Sharma welcomed the CM decision. “As the issue of reservation in promotion is pending in Supreme Court, employees are retiring without taking benefit of promotions. So increasing the age limit will benefit the employees. It was among the long pending demands of employees,” he added.
However, Mantralayeen Karmchari Sangh president Sudhir Nayak said that the benefit of increasing the age will be limited. “There are 4 lakh regular employees in MP and the same numbers are on contract. Half of them are teachers whose retirement age is already 65 years. Besides, medical college professor retirement age is 70 years. Similarly, the age doctors, nurses, pharmacists retirement age is 65. So, 75 per cent employees are already getting the increased retirement age limit benefit. CM announcement will benefit only 20 per cent to 25 per cent employees in state,” said Nayak.
Anushuchit Jati-Janjati Adhikari-Karmchari Sangh (AJJAKS) general secretary SL Suryavanshi said that the CM announcement will increase the un-employment in the state. Reservation in promotion is pending in SC but MP government had drafted the policy in 2017. It was drafted by SC retired judge and HC retired judge but GAD has not implemented it so far. MP Government should implement it to give benefit of promotions to its employees, said Suryavanshi.
Anusuchit Jati Pichchara Varg Adhikari Karamchari Sangh(APAKS) president Bhuvanesh Patel asked government to the new age limit order should also be applied to those who retired after May, 2016 as MP Government appealed in SC in May 2016 against HC order which was delivered on April 2016. Secondly, employees of Board, corporation, universities, panchayat, contractual should also be brought under this purview, he added.
