About 15,000 government employees in Kerala are set to retire, with half of them being school teachers. This mass retirement layoff will hit Kerala this Thursday and Friday, 30 and 31 May, 2024.
Following this wave, the Kerala Secretariat will see 150 individuals, including five Special Secretaries, conclude their service. The police department will bid farewell to around 800 personnel, while the Motor Vehicles Department will see 60 retirements.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will have 674 employees, including conductors and drivers, retiring, but they are expected to return to work on a temporary basis starting 1 June. Additionally, the Local Self-Government Department will lose about 300 employees, and 461 staff members from the Revenue Department, ranging from office assistants to tehsildars, will also retire this month.
Furthermore, in the Civil Supplies Department, 66 officials, including the rationing controller and seven district supply officers, are retiring. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will see a significant exodus of 1,099 individuals, including eight Chief Engineers, 17 Deputy Chief Engineers, and 33 Executive Engineers, with no immediate replacements due to a temporary halt in new appointments as part of departmental reorganisation to reduce staff numbers.
The Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) will see 48 individuals, including additional secretaries, retiring, with 22 from the PSC headquarters and 26 from district offices. Kerala University will also see 16 employees from various departments retiring.
To address these retirements, the policy mandates promotions for lower-ranking employees and the reporting of vacancies to ensure seamless replacements. However, there have been delays in reporting vacancies, affecting candidates on the PSC rank list who are awaiting job placements.