Thiruvananthapuram | The opposition CPI(M) in Kerala on Thursday criticised key recommendations in the state government's fiscal white paper, alleging that the proposals would hurt young job seekers and government employees.
The criticism came after the white paper, tabled by Chief Minister V D Satheesan in the Assembly, suggested raising the retirement age of state government employees to match that of the central government and conducting pay revisions once every 10 years instead of the current five-year cycle.
The white paper argued that Kerala spends nearly 80 per cent of its resources on salaries, pensions and interest payments, leaving limited room for development expenditure.
It said increasing the retirement age could help the state save around Rs 6,000 crore in retirement benefits for every additional year and allow experienced officials to continue in service longer.
The report also suggested that pay commissions could be constituted once every 10 years, similar to the practice followed by the Central government.
Reacting to the recommendations, CPI(M) said the proposal to increase the retirement age was effectively equivalent to imposing a recruitment freeze for the next five years.
"The announcement to raise the retirement age and bring it on par with that of Central government employees is, in effect, equivalent to imposing a complete freeze on recruitment for the next five years," the party said in a statement.
The opposition party claimed that 60 percent of Public Service Commission appointments made in the country during the past decade were carried out under the LDF governments that ruled Kerala during the period.
"It is a challenge to the youth of Kerala," the statement said, referring to the government's proposal.
CPI(M) also objected to the recommendation on pay revision, saying that reducing the frequency of salary revisions from once every five years to once every 10 years would be unfair to government employees.
"The white paper's proposal that pay revisions, which have so far been implemented every five years in Kerala, should henceforth be carried out only once every ten years is a serious injustice to government employees," the party said.
The recommendations are part of a broader set of fiscal reforms proposed in the white paper, which argues that Kerala needs difficult policy decisions to improve its financial position and reduce pressure on state finances.
