A website called The Sen Times recently published an article claiming that the Central Government is about to reduce the age of retirement of its employees form 60 to 50. The article also mentions that while such employees will get their pension payment order, the retirement benefits will only be provided after the post-COVID-19 economic crisis period.
Refuting this claim, Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said on Sunday that there is no such move by the Centre.
"No move to reduce the retirement age of government employees, nor such a proposal discussed or contemplated at any level in the government," he said, according to an official press release.
The Press Information Bureau's Fact Check wing also put out a tweet to refute the claim made by the website.
Claim: A web news portal claims Centre is likely to reduce retirement age of Central Government employees to 50 In #Coronavirus Crisis#PIBFactCheck: The claim made within the report is false. Centre is neither planning nor discussing any such move#COVID19 #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/d9jaWnUwxs
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) April 26, 2020
The article by The Sen Times was sent to BOOM's helpline number, with many questioning the authenticity of the claims being made. The article mentions recession and social distancing as the two major reasons for the Centre to reduce the retirement age to 50. All the claims were attributed to an official source.
According to the article, the reduction in retirement age was aimed at "saving the life of older employees in the angle of social distancing." It also claims that there are "studies that show that Indian people reaching the age of 50 years old tend to suffer from a decline of cognitive and physical abilities." However, we could not find any study that established such a pattern.
As the article went viral, Rajya Sabha member Subramaniam Swamy also took to Twitter to express his apprehensions about the possibility of such a move.
Reducing DA and retirement age of government employees to 50 years is a self defeating proposal which Govt if it has already implemented must withdraw before being forced to withdraw by a revolt
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) April 26, 2020
According to the Wikipedia page of The Sen Times, it is a bureaucracy newspaper run by the Sen Times Group, headquartered in Varanasi. BOOM reached out to the website for a comment, and the article will be updated if and when there is a response.