CHENNAI: With 20,000 State government employees retiring this financial year, Tamil Nadu’s pension bill is expected to balloon to around Rs 40,000 crore. While 15,000 employees will become pensioners in December, on Tuesday, 5,200 government employees hung up their hats.
The government seems to be in no hurry to fill the rising vacancies, with a finance department official saying staff are being recruited as and when required.
It is learnt the State government has only nine lakh employees against the sanctioned strength of 14-15 lakh.
According to the State’s 2022-23 Budget, the government spent Rs 26,410 crore (revised estimate) in 2021-22 and estimated an expenditure of `39,508 on pensions in 2022-23. This includes one-time settlements as well as monthly pensions.
The official said the Rs 13,000 crore estimated increase in expenditure is for State government staff pensions as well as pensions of government-aided school staff who will be retiring.
“This total amount is not just for those retiring this year. There are usual pensioners, family pensioners and those availing one-time settlement. There is also death-cum-retirement gratuity as well as gratuity. So these can’t be divided on an average basis,” he said.
However, the finance department official said the exchequer had funds to pay out the benefits to State government staff and rejected reports that 25,000 government staff, including teachers, retired on Tuesday.
However, it is learnt that local body employees too had retired, but don’t come under the finance department.
Of those who retired, 49 are from the State Secretariat, and 20 are in the ranks of additional secretary, joint secretary, and under secretary.
‘Raising age for retirement was wrong’
The four additional secretaries who retired are S Veeramani, Housing and Urban Development Department, K S Selvakumar, Health and Family Welfare Department, K Paneer Selvam, Public Department, and V Chinnapaiyan, Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department.
M Anbarasu, president of the Tamil Nadu Government Employees’ Association, told TNIE the previous government’s decision to raise retirement age was flawed.
“If an employee’s salary is Rs 50,000, he gets DA, HRA, and other perks, which raise the total to about Rs 80,000. If the same employee retired earlier, he would only get Rs 25,000 as pension. But now, the government is spending an extra Rs 55,000 per month on him,” said Anbarasu.