The Government should seriously consider lowering the public sector retirement age in order to improve efficiency in the public service delivery, reduce state expenditure and manage strike actions which cause much hardships to the general public, award winning marketer and philanthropist Dr. Ranga Jayakody said.
Addressing the media Dr. Jayakody said lowering the public sector retirement age will also help reduce unemployment among youth and mitigate ‘Brain Drain’.
He said retirees can engage in gainful employment or businesses after retirement and earn an extra income besides their pensions which would be a boost to the national economy as well as their personal living standards.
“Whether working in the government or the private sector, anyone has to accept that past 50 years efficiency begins to decline. The working capacity keeps gradually decreasing. What we should do is to provide space for a new generation to continue these services. Then the youth community will continue to implement public service delivery strongly with energy and high efficiency”.
Dr. Jayakody went on to say that the young energy and enthusiasm will help the country move forward with new knowledge, new experiments, new strategies suited to the modern world.
“On the other hand, young people who run away to foreign countries will stay here as they will get responsibilities and opportunities at a young age. It will also mitigate ‘brain drain’. Therefore, taking action right now will undoubtedly be the first step of a new change”.
Dr. Jayakody further said the daily activity of the public today is affected due to unending public service strikes.
“In the midst of thousands of problems including economic problems, when people take to the streets to go to work, the train strike, the bus strike will affect their journey and when they go to a hospital to get medicine for an illness, the doctors or the hospital staff, are on strike”.
He said regardless of what the strikers say the basic reasons are to increase wages or benefits and enhance pension benefits.
“It is a well-known fact that public sector salaries are low compared to the private sector. But despite that, why do many people seek a career in the public service? The answer is clear. That is the pension. The government employees retire at the age of 60, receiving salary and benefits, and even receiving a pension for life, it is a great hindrance to the development of the country. The trade unions that represent them protect them and even justify their inefficiency and they are oppressing the common people”.
He said strikes not only disrupt public sector, but it also applies to the private sector. “Those engaged in permanent jobs in the country’s labour force should retire at the age of 50. Legal provisions should be made for that. Then efficiency of the public sector will improve, congestion for jobs will decrease and the strike actions can be managed better. We should think about it with a calm mind” he added.
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