An open request to Chief Minister of Kerala

To
Sri V S Achuthanandan,
Hon’ble Chief Minister, Govt of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram

Respected Sir,

Sub: Request for not to hike the retirement age.

As you know sir, setting aside all the burning problems, Kerala is in a new phase of debate on the hike of retirement age. In tune with the routine of the neo-liberalists in your party to overthrow all the decisions taken by you the Finance Minister announced in his budget proposal a hike in the retirement age of some employees about one year. The reason suggested by him for this is unjustifiable as the proposal is quite preposterous when there are thousands of unemployed youths in the state.

Sensing that election time is much suited for all unjustifiable demands several employees' organisations have demanded that the retirement age be increased from the present 55 years. The report of the Assembly Expenditure Committee recommending hike in the pension age has enthused these organisations. The expenditure panel is worried over the share of the State’s revenues was being allocated for distributing the salaries and pensions of the employees. More interesting is the suggestion for bringing down the upper age limit for applying for Government jobs by three years. Kerala’s high life expectancy in contrast to that in other states has worried the Expenditure committee. If so it would have been better for the committee to place a proposal that no pension need be paid henceforth.
It is to be pointed that any effort to move up the pension age of employees would have serious repercussion in a State where number of thousands educated youth is waiting for employment. An online survey has found strong opposition to the proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age in order to address the huge deficit in the pension fund. When most people believe that the proposal for rise in retirement age will worsen the unemployment situation in that State it is a ploy of a few bureaucrats and crafty politicians to hoodwink the unemployed youths. If retirement age is hiked the unemployment situation will worsen further because increase in new jobs mainly relies on vacancies provided by retirees. The Gulf and European countries returnees on economic recession will also worsen the unemployment condition. Official statistics show that when 100 residents enter the job market each year, there are less than 50 new openings. It is to be categorically pointed out that unemployment is more an urgent problem than the social security fund deficit.
So it should be opposed by all especially by the youths the Finance Minister’s move to increase the retirement age. Government should also announce its policy towards the youth. Though the Government claims a lot, none in the Cabinet except you has the thought of a long-term programme to tackle the problem of the unemployed youths. What is in need is to evolve such a programme instead of treating over the skin. A hike in the retirement age would badly affect the chances of young and qualified unemployed in getting jobs elsewhere. Kindly abandon the budgetary proposal of retirement age hike.

Yours faithfully,

K A Solaman