Retirement Age of Central Government Employees to be Reduced to 50? PIB Fact Check Dismisses Fake News
The government has dismissed a report which claimed that it is likely to reduce the retirement age of employees to 50.
New Delhi, April 26: The government has dismissed a report which claimed that it is likely to reduce the retirement age of employees to 50 in the wake of economic crisis because of the coronavirus outbreak. In a tweet, the fact check section of the Press Bureau of India (PIB) on Sunday clarified the government has not discussed anything about slashing retirement age of employees. Viral Message Claiming ICMR Will Study Immunity of Indigenous Assamese As Not a Single Case of COVID-19 Found in Them Is Fake, Here Is the Fact Check by PIB.
"The central government is mulling to make significant change to retirement age for those central government employees, who have attained the age of 50 and above," a report claimed. "Those employees will get pension payment order (PPO) on the day of retirement but retirement benefits will be made in the post coronavirus economic crisis period," it added. The report cited "overcrowded offices" as the reason behind the government claimed move. Money Transferred to Bank Accounts by Government During Coronavirus Lockdown Will be Taken Back if Not Withdrawn? PIB Fact-Checks Fake Viral Message.
The PIB Fact Check has refuted these claims about the retirement age of central government employees. "The claim made within the report is false. Centre is neither planning nor discussing any such move," read a tweet by PIB Fact Check. Government offices don't have enough space that the norm of social distancing can be followed. Hence, all central government departments have been instructed to ensure that more than one-third of employees, below the level of deputy secretary, are not called to offices to avoid crowding and to ensure safe social distancing norms, the report said.
PIB Clarification on Retirement Age Cut:
Several employees have been asked to from home. But adapting work from home culture is not easy for central government employees, the report claimed. "That older employees also find it harder to adapt to modern technology, which is must required to adapt work from home culture. This type of employees are neither essential nor able to work from home, and these are the employees who are most at risk of losing their jobs once the lockdown is lifted," the report said. "We know reducing the retirement age to 50 years seems a bit extreme, but drastic times call for drastic measures," a source was quoted as saying.
Fact check
The government is likely to reduce the retirement age of employees to 50.
The government is neither planning nor discussing reducing retirement age.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 26, 2020 10:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).