Maharashtra Cabinet extends retirement age for health department officials to 62 years

The Maharashtra Cabinet has approved a proposal for extending the retirement age of Health Department officials on Wednesday. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has issued a statement after a Cabinet meeting. 

Age limit of retirement for Health Department officials

Addressing the media, the state Health Minister Rajesh Tope stated that the state government has taken the decision to extend the age limit for the retirement of Health Department officials from 61 to 62. The decision has been taken in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal will be applied to all the health department officials including doctors, civil surgeons, and other senior officials. However, some officials were already given extensions last year due to the coronavirus situation. 

The proposal was passed by the State Cabinet during a meeting shared by Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray held on Wednesday. 

The previous retirement age for medical officers and other officials was 60 years. However, now the age limit has been extended for providing adequate manpower in healthcare sectors. 

"The state has decided that 62 years of age will be the cut-off line for any official serving in the health department. The Cabinet cleared the proposal to give extension to senior officials and civil surgeons in the public health department”, he said. 

During the press conference, Health Minister Tope also said that he will meet Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and will request him to provide an adequate amount of COVID-19 vaccine doses to the state. 

COVID-19 in Maharashtra

With strict restrictions imposed in the state, Maharashtra has witnessed a consistent dip in the COVID-19 cases. Also, no new cases of the Delta Plus variant have been reported from the state. Other than the metro areas, a higher number of COVID-19 cases were reported from different districts of the state. 

The minister has furthermore asserted that Maharashtra needs 3 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses every month, as per the current situation. Health Minister Tope also spoke on recruitments in the Health Department and said that around 899 posts were filled last week and an advertisement will be soon issued for filling up more vacant positions in the Health Department. 

(With agency inputs)