No extension to Chandigarh admn staffers after age of 58

Chandigarh follows service rules of Punjab, where retirement age was slashed from 60 to 58; as of now, UT employees can get 2 extensions of year each on retiring

PUNJAB EFFECT Chandigarh follows service rules of Punjab, where retirement age has been reduced from 60 to 58

HT Image

QUOTE: “Employees who have already been given one-year extension will be allowed to complete their tenure.”

Manoj Kumar Parida, UT adviser

Chandigarh: After the Punjab government’s decision to reduce the retirement age of its state employees from 60 years to 58, the UT administration will also be following suit and discontinuing the practice of giving extensions to its employee who have attained the age of 58.

UT follows Punjab service rules and pay scales for its employees. The decision will affect 20,000-odd employees of the Chandigarh administration.

“No extension will be given to employees attaining the age of 58 years hereafter,” confirmed UT adviser Manoj Kumar Parida, while adding Punjab governor and UT administrator VPS Badnore will take the final decision.

However, the UT employees who have already been given one-year extension will be allowed to complete their tenure, he said.

Employees who turn 58, which is the retirement age, can be given two extensions of one year each by the UT administration.

“It will be unfair to abruptly end the service of an employee who has already been given an extension. However, no further extension of one year will be given in such cases,” said Parida.

In his budget speech on February 28, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal announced the reduction of retirement age of state employees to 58 years from 60. Employees who have turned 59 would retire on March 31 and those who have completed 58 but are still not 59 would retire on September 30.

UNIONS FEAR TEETHING PROBLEMS

Meanwhile, UT employees have welcomed the Punjab government’s decision though they are apprehensive over how the Chandigarh administration would implement it.

“The decision will speed up career progression of employees. There will also be better employment opportunities in the administration,” said Balwinder Singh, president, Chandigarh Subordinate Services Federation.

However, in the immediate aftermath of the decision, employees also expect that reduction in retirement age would create acute staffing problems. “A number of employees are due to retire this year. For instance, in the UT engineering department, most of the senior assistants and superintendents will attain the age of 58. This will cause a major staff crunch even when junior employees are promoted more speedily,” said Singh.

“The past record of UT shows that it would be very slow in filling the posts, after the decision comes into effect. While the Punjab government was prepared to make fresh recruitments before taking the decision on retirement age, the UT administration doesn’t have a plan in place,” said Gopal Dutt Joshi, general secretary, UT Powermen Union.