By IANS
Guwahati : The Assam government has decided to raise the retirement age of its nearly-550,000 employees from 59 to 60 years, a decision largely seen as a populist measure ahead of panchayat elections.
This is the second time in the last four years that the Congress government has decided to extend the retirement age of its employees — in 2003 the retirement age was raised by a year from 58.
The Sadou Assam Karmachari Parishad (SAKP), the state government employees union, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi conveyed the government’s decision Thursday during a meeting with them.
“We are happy that the chief minister agreed to extend the retirement age up to 60 years with effect from December,” SAKP secretary general Basab Kalita said Friday.
“The cabinet sub-committee constituted by the government had recommended raising the retirement age,” he added.
The government’s decision comes ahead of Panchayat elections in Assam — dates for the polls are not announced yet, but they are likely to be held in December. The SAKP leader said the government was also considering bringing the pay scale of state government employees at par with that of central government employees.
“It was a major success and achievement for the SAKP to have gotten the retirement age raised. Now we want the pay scale to be hiked,” Kalita said.
There has been no official confirmation regarding the claims made by the SAKP towards raising the retirement age.
Several powerful students’ group and other organisations have been opposing the SAKP’s demand for raising the retirement age, saying such a move would further compound the spiralling unemployment problem in Assam.