Here is an essay on the ‘Retirement of Public Servants’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on the ‘Retirement of Public Servants’ especially written for school and college students.
Retirement of Public Servants
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Meaning of Retirement
- Essay on the Aims and Objects of Retirement System
- Essay on the Age of Retirement
- Essay on the Salient Features of Retirement System
- Essay on the Forms of Retirement System
- Essay on the A.R.C. on Retirement Benefits
Essay # 1. Meaning of Retirement:
Man cannot work efficiently after a certain age when he grows old and weak. After reaching this age, he needs rest and relaxation. With the creation of public service as a permanent career, it is desirable that the government should ensure its employees an easy and carefree life in their old age. It would cause untold misery and hardship to such personnel if no provision is made to meet their financial needs.
In the words of Edmund Burke, “if the public servant is to see that the state takes no detriment the state must see that his affairs take as little.” He justified a system of pensions on the ground that “no man knows, when he cuts off the incitements to a virtuous ambition and the just rewards of the public service, what infinite mischief he may do his country through all generations.
Therefore, all countries have established retirement systems for their public servants.
Essay # 2. Aims and Objects of Retirement System:
Prof L.D. White has rightly observed, “A retirement system for civil employees is primarily designed to facilitate the termination of employment of men and women whose powers have failed on account of age or disability by granting allowances for past services; to provide benefits to dependents in case of death; and to improve the morale of services by creating a sense of economic security. From the point of view of the employee, the retirement system helps to compensate for modest scale of pay, relieves anxiety for the future, and furnishes a convenient means of regular saving.”
Thus the retirement system is in fact an integral part of personnel administration. This is evident from the objects which it serves.
In the first place, it eliminates from public services those employees who, due to incapacity or old age, are unable to discharge their duties adequately. This is necessary in the interest of efficiency and economy in the service. Employment of men of impaired efficiency to do the work of an able-bodied man with sound mind means impairment of efficiency as well as financial loss to the state exchequer.
From standpoint of the government as an employer, it seems desirable that provision should be made for retirement system.
Second, retirement of older employees from highest positions is essential to provide opportunities for promotion to comparatively younger group of employees. The number of higher posts is limited. Lower level employees can be promoted to higher posts only if they fall vacant.
If the people at the top do not retire, there would be left no room for promotion. In the absence of opportunities for promotion, the public servants would not put their heart and soul in the work because the road to further progress stood closed.
Third, to inject new blood with fresh ideas in public services, it is necessary that older employees should retire so that room be provided for new entrants abreast of new ideas and the latest techniques.
Fourth, unless there is a retirement system men and women at a young age would not feel attracted to the public services. A system of pensions on retirement is a great source of attraction for people who take to public services.
One of the reasons of so much craving for public services is the system of pensions after retirement though emoluments are hardly comfortable with those extended by private enterprisers and big business magnets.
Fifth, for retaining the best qualified persons in government service, a retirement system is imperative. A system of pensions on retirement boosts the morale of the employees who have not to worry for their sustenance after retirement. In the absence of retirement system, many officers may join the private enterprises and leave the public service.
Last, on humanitarian grounds also, it is desirable that employees who have become less efficient or are incapacitated for work as a result of physical disabilities consequent upon advancing years, must not be made to retire from the service without adequate provision for the remaining years of life.
Justice demands that the state should look after its employees who have served it for about thirty to thirty five years. Thus the desirability of government making provision for the retirement of their old and incapacitated employees is irrefutable and quite justified.
Essay # 3. Age of Retirement:
The age of retirement varies from country to country according to the climatic conditions and the average expectation of longevity of life.
The age of retirement is generally fixed by the statute but in certain important cases it may also be fixed by the Constitution (for example, the retirement age of the judges of High Courts and Supreme Court and members of the Public Service Commission in India has been fixed by the Constitution).
In the United States the retirement age of employees is 65 to 70 years, in Britain 60 to 65 years, and in India, 55-58 years later raised to sixty years for the Central Government employees by the BJP coalitional government.
In fixing the age of retirement two opposite viewpoints emerge out. According to one view ‘the retirement age should be as high as possible so that the full benefit of the accumulated experience of the employees may be obtained and pensions may have to be paid for as short a period as possible. This is the view of a large section of public servants.
The other view which is shared by the younger elements is that the superannuation age should not be raised high as it blocks the prospects of their early promotion and impedes entrance of the younger element in case vacancies are not created by retiring employees after certain age.
The Government’s policy of employing afresh the retired and superannuated employees if they are very indispensable (instead of increasing retirement age), is widely acclaimed.
Essay # 4. Salient Features of Retirement System:
There are certain common features of all types of retirement system.
They are as follows:
(a) Retirement is compulsory at a fixed age. In certain cases constitution of the country fixes the age of superannuation. In India, for instance, the retirement age of the judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court and of the members of the Public Service Commissions both at the Centre and in the states has been fixed up according to the Constitution.
The employees are required to retire at a certain age even if their physical fitness has not been impaired. The climatic, temperamental and other features of the country are taken into consideration while fixing up the superannuation age. In India this age is 55 to 60 years, in UK it is 60 to 65 years.
In the universities the age of retirement is higher than in the Government service (62 years). Recently it has been raised to 65 years in our universi
ties.
(b) Every retirement system makes a provision for pensions to the members retired. They are paid wholly by the government but they cannot be claimed as a right and it can be withheld if the employee is suspected of subversive activities detrimental to the interests of the state or if he has acquired a foreign citizenship or has attempted to undermine the prestige of the government.
A public servant may be forced to retire due to physical disability or ill health. In that case, he is to be paid proportionate pension. For instance, the English Superannuation Act of 1948 makes a provision of this.
(c) Besides pensions, there are certain other benefits, viz., provident fund, insurance, etc., to which the employees are entitled after retirement.
In certain countries both pension and provident fund are allowed provident funds differ from pensions in two respects:
(i) Partially they are contributory and partially non-contributory, the government and the employee contributing half and half.
(ii) These benefits are paid not monthly but in a lump sum at the time of retirement.
The insurance systems are wholly contributory. These schemes may be compulsory or may be optional. Since April, 1950, the Government of India has introduced Provident Fund and Insurance schemes for its employees. In the initial stages, those who had rendered more than ten years of service were to be compulsorily brought under the scheme.
However, those who had put in less than ten years of service were given an option to be or not to be governed by this scheme. Presently all confirmed employees are required to contribute towards Provident Fund. Some state governments also have opted for insurance schemes for its employees.
Essay # 5. Forms of Retirement System:
There are three forms of retirement systems, namely:
(i) Non-contributory,
(ii) Partly contributory, and
(iii) Wholly contributory.
Under the first system the government undertakes to defray the entire cost of making the retirement allowances. The employees are not called upon to contribute any money to the retirement fluid. Under the second system, the cost is partly met by the government and partly by the employees.
The contribution of the employees is secured through compulsory deductions from their salaries which is carried to a provident fund along with the government’s contributions. Under the third system the entire cost is met by the employees through deductions made from their salaries.
Each of these systems has its merits. Many people are unwilling to accept the first system. They say that the employee is under the same obligation to make provision through saving for his future needs as the persons in private employment. They advocate the wholly contributory system.
On the other hand, some people maintain that the entire cost should be met by the government. Just as the government pays for the salaries of its employees, so it must pay for their retirement allowances which should be considered as a part of their salary. From the viewpoint of expediency it will do away with the expensive and complicated method of making deductions from pay.
Finally there are many others who look upon the responsibility as a joint one and advocate partly contributory system which occupies a middle position between the two extreme systems of non-contributory and wholly-contributory.
It is argued that this system will not unnecessarily burden either party and will create the spirit of making sacrifices in the employees with the life span having gone up in India from thirty years to seventy years, the government are facing constraints to meet pension expenditure.
Hence the old pension scheme has been revised. For employees appointed after January, 2002 it was made contributory transferring percentage of general Provident fund to the pension account of the employees.
Essay # 6. A.R.C. on Retirement Benefits:
1. A civil servant may be permitted to retire voluntarily after he has put in 15 years of service.
2. Such Government employees who have been superseded should be allowed to retire even earlier on similar terms if they have served at least for ten years.
3. If a temporary employee remains in government service continuously for ten years or more, he should be entitled to pension and gratuity on the same scale as are allowed to permanent government employees.
4. The quantum of pension admissible should be raised to 3/6ths of the average emoluments of the last three years of service as against the existing 3/8ths.
5. The present ceiling of maximum amount of pension should be raised to Rs. 1,000 p.m.
6. The receipt of death-cum-retirement gratuity should be made optional.
Government of India and some State Governments accepted most of these recommendations. In fact, they have further improved the Pension benefits to the advantage of employees and their families. The maximum ceiling on pension benefit for the family after pensioners’ death has since been enhanced by the Government in the recent past.
After the 5th Pay Commission retirement benefits of both the Central and the State government employees were substantially enhanced as the pay scales of all categories of employees were increased considerably .
The 6th Pay Commission whose report was out in 2008 has again hiked the pay scales with effect from 1.1.2006 (i.e. retrospectively). The States have yet to follow suit. Pension benefits have also increased as per recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. The maximum limit of gratuity has been increased from 3 lakhs to 10 lakhs. The commutation percentage also has been increased. Percentage of family pension has also been enhanced in case of central government employees. The states have followed the centre as regards hike in pay scales and also in the pension benefits.
The central government approved on November 20, 2008 a substantial increase in the salaries of executives and non-unionised supervisors of central public sector enterprises with effect from January, 2007. The chairman and the managing director of A category CPSE will henceforth be eligible for the Rs. 80,000 – 1.25 Lakhs pay scale against the existing 27750- 31500 pay scales. The revised basic pay scale for the lowest level supervisor would be Rs. 12600 – Rs. 32,500 as against the existing Rs. 6550 – 11,350.
On December 16, 2008 the Union Government announced the revision of payscales of university and college teachers. The centre will stand 80 per cent of the additional expenditure that states will be required to bear on account of pay revision. The pay scales are very attractive and are morale booster.
In order to redress the grievances of armed forces over anomalies in pay structures the Union Government on January 1, 2009 has constituted a separate pay commission. The government has placed Lt. Colonels in the Army and their equivalents in the Air Force and Navy at higher pay scales. They will be now in Pay Band-4 as done by the 6th Pay Commission whose report was implemented in September 2008.
It is evident that by and large the interests of all categories of employees have been safeguarded, so far as possible. Let us hope pay hike and better prospects help in the eradication of corruption among the employees and improve the quality of work in Government offices.