Chandigarh: The Haryana Government’s decision to lower retirement age of its employees to 58 from 60 years has
been challenged on Thursday in the High Court, with the petitioners seeking the
immediate quashing of Manohar Lal Khattar’s government decision.
A petition was filed by Deputy
Secretary to Haryana government, Baljeet Kaur and other State government
employees. The petitioners requested the High court to put stay on the decision
and to direct Haryana government not to order to retire the employees on
November 30, the cut-off date for implementation of Khattar’s government
decision.
The High Court likely to hear the case today without waiting
government response, as 5,000 Haryana government employees would retire on a
single day, November 30 according to the government order.
The logic of the Haryana Government that retirement at 58 years
will provide more job avenues to the young has not gone down well with the
state employees.
The figure for this month is much higher as all those who didn’t
not retire after August with the change in retirement age would retire
together, as the BJP government
reversing the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government’s decision of raising the
retirement age of government staff from 58 years to 60 years.
Even those in the Central service in Haryana retire at 60.
Political parties and employees’ unions are up in arms against the
“anti-people” decision of the government which is set to adversely affect over
40,000 employees in the next two years.
“Its not logical to snatch this facility from Haryana employees
when central government and other BJP-ruled states like Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh and neighbouring Punjab are retiring its employees at the age of 60,”
said Subhash Lamba, general secretary of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh.
Haryana Principal Secretary (Finance) P K Das said that around
4% employees of the around 3.75 lakh employees of state government, boards and
corporations, retire every year. As per estimates, the government would have to
bear the financial burden of around Rs 75 crore immediately in the form of
retirement benefits of these 5,000 employees.
TST