Gujarat government's huge army is on the verge of retirement. In the last five years, on an average, more than 15,000 to 17,000 employees have retired every year. The highest retirement rate in 2019 was 19,700, compared to around 17,500 in 2020. The number of retirees has been increasing since 2005 in the Gujarat government with a strength of more than eight lakh.
Thousands of employees, especially those who entered the job in June, retire in the same month. These retired employees include employees of various government offices, teachers, professors, employees of grant-in-aid organizations, employees of boards and corporations as well as employees of various panchayats. Ten times as many employees retire as the state government hires each year. With a large army of skilled and senior most officers in the administration of the Gujarat government on the verge of retirement, government departments are finding it difficult to find an experienced department head. The same is the case with senior officers of Gujarat Administrative Service. A large team is on the way to retirement. On the other hand, the retirement rate of Class-I to Class-III employees in the government has gone up to more than 18,000 every year, which is a matter of concern for the government.
According to the Pension and Provident Fund office, 3,000 to 5,000 government teachers are retiring every year, just like government employees. The state government is appointing education assistants in education against the retiring teachers but not so much against the retirement of the staff of the secretariat as well as other government offices. Over the next two years, the retirement rate will be more than 34,000. Vishrubhai Patel, a leader of the Gujarat State Employees Coordinating Committee, says that despite thousands of employees retiring every year, new employees are not being hired, resulting in a fragmented administrative structure. The government is facing a huge shortage of engineers, legal experts and officials with technical skills. Against a retirement rate of 17,000 per year, the government recruits only 15 to 20 per cent new employees a year, which ultimately increases the workload on existing employees.
How many employees will retire in Gujarat Government?
