Kerala admin faces collapse as 20,000 retire in single day
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is gripped by a fear of administrative collapse, but no, it's not because of a crippling strike threat or a financial gridlock. More than 20,000 government employees retired from the state service on Wednesday, practically emptying out offices.
The void was caused by a government order unifying their retirement age. The retirement date of all those due for end of service in any month after April 1, 2009 was extended to March 31, 2010.
About 12,000 of those who retired were teachers and employees of the education department. Besides, nearly 3,000 personnel left the state police force while 180 bid adieu to the secretariat. There were also retirements from the health, revenue and tourism departments. However, there was no official word yet on the exact number. The total number of state government employees is around 3 lakh.
According to unofficial estimates, the retirement could cost the state exchequer Rs 1,500 crore towards payment of pension and other retirement benefits.
-TOI
