A high-level committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar has submitted a report recommending significant administrative reforms in Kerala, including raising the retirement age of government employees and extending the pay revision interval to ten years. The expert panel, which includes the directors of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) and the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT), aimed to address the state’s severe financial challenges through these recommendations.

Under the new proposals, the current retirement age of 56 is suggested to be increased to either 57 or 58 years, though raising it to 60 is highly unlikely. Additionally, the committee recommends shifting the state’s salary revision cycle from the current five-year pattern to a ten-year cycle, aligning it with the Central Government’s model. While the retirement age extension may please employees, the ten-year pay revision proposal could trigger protests from service organizations.

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The report also suggests merging or shutting down several underperforming public sector corporations and consolidating multiple welfare fund boards into unified offices to cut costs. However, implementing these mergers may prove politically challenging for any coalition government, as it reduces the number of coveted chairman and managing director posts available for political allies. Currently, these proposals remain as recommendations submitted to the government, with final decisions expected during or after the upcoming budget.