Jitendra Singh urges retired personnel to work for government in some way

NEW DELHI: "Oldies, stop nagging your wife at home. Instead work for the government in some way." This was the message on Tuesday from Minister of State for Personnel, Jitendra Singh, for nearly 50 lakh retired government officials in the country.

Singh said the Narendra Modi government wanted to tap expertise of this huge pool of retired government officials so that they can contribute to the country’s growth story rather than just sit at home. First of all, he said, the retiring personnel needed pre-retirement counseling as many are unable to settle into a retired life after years of active service.

"It is a big, big shock for him. A retiring official is given a good farewell in the evening, his car is pushed by the entire department but the next morning, the Ambassador does not turn up and the driver does not turn up. So he is left with nothing but nagging his wife and causing nuisance for his grand-children, if he has any. Many senior retired officers forget to close the doors of their cars after retirement as someone else was doing it for 30 years," Singh said on Tuesday. He added that such a retired official’s family also turns "captive at home" after his retirement.

"The family earlier knew the old man has to get up at 8 AM, get ready and push off and would be back at 6 PM…the daughter-in-law was relieved. So instead of nagging your wife, creating a nuisance at home or keeping your family captive at home, oldies can help the government by working for us in some way. It will be cost-effective for government too as we do not need to pay the same salary," Singh said.

ET was the first to report on June 24 that the Modi government has prepared a concept paper to help retiring employees "transit smoothly to their 2nd Innings" and bring together groups of like-minded pensioners and the ministries which are looking for concurrent audit or evaluation of development schemes being implemented across the country.

Singh said on Tuesday that the government needed the experience of its retired officials and will engage them in some way. One of the suggestions in the concept paper made by government is to use them for evaluation of development schemes being implemented across the country.