Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 19 (IANS): The Kerala government is mulling to increase the retirement age of government employees to 57 years.

Sources said that talks between various government stakeholders are underway and an announcement is likely to be made during the New Year when the state budget for the new fiscal will be presented in February by State Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal.

Kerala is the only state where government employees retire at the age of 56. During the tenure of Oommen Chandy (2011-16) to standardise the retirement age of all employees, it was decided to increase the retirement age from 55 to 56 years.

As per a recent study by a committee, the state government will be able to divert more than Rs 5,000 crores if the retirement age is increased by one year as the retirement benefits including gratuity and end-of-service benefits for capital spending.

If the state government is able to go ahead with the proposed plan for the government employees, it will be a major image booster for the CPI-M government as state government employees are unhappy with the Vijayan government on the issue of increase in DA arrears, which at present is around 19 per cent.

With the local bodies poll due in the second half of 2025 and the Assembly polls scheduled to take place in April 2026, the step is seen as a major step by Vijayan-led government