Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government has taken a lead by finalizing the proposal of upward revision of retirement age from 60 years to 63 years. A consultation in this regard will be held with the federal government and governments of other three provinces before giving it approval by the provincial government. It is pertinent to mention that in the previous PPP government in 2008 the Establishment Division had moved a summary in this regard to the Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gailani which he did not approve for different reasons.
No doubt the swelling pension bill , payment commutation and other retirement benefits of retiring government employees may have added to the financial worries of the government. In the past decision about fixing retirement age limit were taken by the federal government. Does the 18th Amendment delegates power of revision of retirement age limit to provinces?
There is no harm in upward revision of retirement age limit when either the economy has reached the full employment level or fractional unemployment exists. In Pakistan millions of young people are unemployed and every year one million educated youth is entering the job market. In the developed countries the retirement age is 65 years and in some West European countries it is 67 for females. But the reasons for this are the decline in the population of young people and rise in population of old age and growing demand for labour force. Hence, increase in the age limit for retirement will make the issue of massive unemployment worse.
