The United Democratic Front Government had announced the decision to raise the retirement age of Government employees with out even mentioning about the same in the UDF election manifesto or in the Governor’s address, alleged Mr Saleem P.Chacko, Revolutionary Youth Front State secretary.
Mr Chacko was inaugurating the protest march, organised by the pro-Left Democratic Front youth organisations, to the Mini Civil Station here on Wednesday.
The RYF leader alleged that the UDF Government has already launched its agenda of abolishing the numer of posts in the Civil Service by 10 per cent in the next five years. The idea is to reduce the number of posts in the Civil Service by 2 per cent every year, literally closing the doors of employment opportunity at the 43-lakh educated unemployed youth in the State, he alleged.
Mr Chacko said the Government decision to raise the retirement age of Government employees came at a time when as many as 29,658 were about to retire on March 31.
A national survey report published four days before the State budget presentation had identified Kerala as the State with the largest number of educated unemployed youth in the whole country. As per the survey report, the rural areas of the State has got 17.3 per cent unemployment and that of the urban areas 14.8 per cent, he added.
Mr Chacko said as many as 6.72 lakh unemployed persons have registered their names at various employment exchanges in the State since 2008, taking their total number to 43,61,700 by 2010.
According to Mr Chacko, a total of 18,099 people got employment through the employment exchanges in 2008 whereas only 12,648 persons could get employment in 2010.
The RYF leader alleged that various departmental heads were unwilling to report the number of vacancies to the Public Service Commission as art of the Government’s hidden agenda to reduce the number of posts. Mr Chacko said the left wing youth organisations would continue their agitation till the Government withdrew its decision to raise the retirement age of Government employees to 56.
G. Krishnakumar, Democratic Youth Front district secretary, presided.
Manoj Charalel, All-India Youth Federation State joint secretary; P.R. Pradeep, DYFI district president; Roshan Roy Mathew, State committee member; K.S. Arun, AIYF district president, and P. Premjith, RYF district secretary, also spoke.
The march was blocked by the police on the road when it reached the Central junction. The violent protesters tried to break the barricade but in vain.
