Munda: Largesse galore

Ranchi, May 19: The bonanzas are coming thick and fast.

Eager to get back lost ground after the election rout, chief minister Arjun Munda has given the go-ahead to raise the retirement age of state government employees from 58 to 60.

Nearly 1.5 lakh employees working in the various state departments are expected to benefit from the bonanza.

A draft prepared by the government, however, clarified the largesse will not be applicable to employees working in the state-run boards and corporations for whom the retirement age will remain constant at 58.

According to a rough estimate, at least 40 per cent of state employees who have already reached 58 years of age would benefit from the latest largesse.

Sources said the issue of increasing the retirement age of state employees was raised by building construction minister Raghuvar Das and Munda readily agreed to the proposal. Munda has directed his officials to put up the matter at the next cabinet meeting for final concurrence. The next meet is slated for early June.

Officials have got in touch with their counterparts in the neighbouring states of West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, which had hiked the superannuation age of their employees from 58 to 60. The official said copies of relevant circulars from these states have been procured to assist in the drafting of a comprehensive proposal for Jharkhand.

The proposed increase in retirement age is the latest in a series of gifts announced by the Munda government since the election results came out last Thursday.

Immediately after the debacle, Munda had announced that all girl students from Classes VIII to X studying in state-run and minority schools would be given bicycles free of cost.

The government then decreed that 42 recognised schools in Jharkhand which do not receive any financial aid from the state would henceforth be entitled to receive a lumpsum grant to take care of teachers’ salaries along with mid-day meals to its students.

At a cabinet meeting held yesterday, the government approved granting Rs 10 lakh compensation to the next of kin of all Jharkhand armed policemen killed in action against extremists, reduction of housing loan interest for state employees, a hike in pay and allowances of all additional secretaries by Rs 400 and raising advance against monthly salaries from the existing Rs 500 to Rs 5,000.

Besides, the government is also wooing industry and has promised to make Jharkhand a favourable business destination.

Sources revealed that work has begun on a war-footing on the final drafting of the official note on hiking the retirement age that would be required to be put up before the Cabinet in roughly 15 days.

While government officials were obviously happy, the youths said the move would spell doom for them in an already bleak job market.

Another section of officials pointed out that over the past three years, the state government had failed to attract any sizeable investment while most of the existing units, including state-run organisations, have closed down due to fiscal mismanagement and lack of work orders.

The go-ahead to the retirement proposal is clearly aimed at the middle-classes.

Munda has been criticised by a section in his own party of being biased in favour of tribals, which is antagonising the middle-classes. His bicycle-to-girls scheme is also aimed at countering this criticism in election year. The bicycle scheme had earlier covered only tribal students but has now been extended to girl students belonging to scheduled castes, backward castes and minorities.

This belated course correction appears to have been done with an eye on the Assembly election, slated for early next year.