Thiruvananthapuram, March 31 (IANS) At least 20,000 Kerala government employees retired Thursday, the last day of the financial year.
At least half of them are teachers, with 1,000 policemen and 260 doctors among others, an official of the finance department told IANS on condition of anonymity.
‘The total amount to be paid in retirement benefits to these employees would be around Rs.700 crore. The coffers are full, so as and when the final bill is submitted, it would be paid,’ said the official.
Finance Minister Thomas Issac ruled out apprehensions that the large number of employees retiring will affect the functioning of the government.
‘More than 50 percent of these vacancies have been filled up through supernumerary posts and things will not be affected at all,’ said Issac.
Earlier, the state government employees retired on the day they turned 55. But the Left government changed the rules to allow them to continue till March 31 of the year.
Speaking to IANS, a college professor said: ‘It was a tough time to control emotions. Today we gave send offs to few teachers who were retiring. We had a small party, a meeting and each retiring teacher was escorted to their home by us. It is sad because 55 is not that old.’
