BAHARAM KHAN

For government employees, voluntary retirement with pension benefits currently requires 25 years of service. The Public Administration Reform Commission is set to recommend lowering the requirement to 15 years.

The commission is also likely to recommend doing away with a legal provision that allows the authorities to force employees to retire after they have been on the job for 25 years or more, said multiple sources in the commission.

Sections 44 and 45 of the Government Service Act-2018 would need to be amended in order to implement these recommendations.

The Public Administration Reform Commission held a meeting yesterday to finalise the recommendations. It will hand the chief adviser the recommendation on February 5, which is the new deadline for the submission.

“Currently, if a government employee voluntarily retires before 25 years in service, they do not get pension benefits. This is why the commission is recommending the change,” said a source.

However, those retiring after 15 years will not get the full pension benefits, for which one must be on the job for 25 years.

No commission member is willing to explain on record the rationale behind the recommendations.

“Officers often receive better job offers in the private sector. Unless they have been on the job for 25 years, they often do not take those opportunities because they do not want to lose their pension benefits. We want to change that.”

As to why the government should not be allowed to force someone to retire, another source said, “An officer should not be afraid of forced retirement for disagreeing with the government or having a history of being a member of an opposition party.”

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