The Centre on Wednesday said it was not planning to reduce the retirement age of government employees from 60 years to 58 years. Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said this in a written response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha.

The current retirement age in most services is 60 years, and 65 years for professors and doctors. Singh, however, cited rules and provisions that allow the government to force officials to retire prematurely in public interest for lacking integrity or for being ineffective.

According to social media rumours that surfaced in September, the government had cleared a proposal to reduce the superannuation age of central employees from April 2020. According to the reports, employees could be retired after they complete 33 years of service or turn 60 years, whichever is earlier. However, the Centre refuted the rumours, calling them unfounded and baseless.