In line of fire over its decision to reverse the retirement age, the Haryana Government on Saturday said that it was “politically motivated, divorced from ground-level reality and totally unwarranted”.

The Manohar lal Khattar-led Haryana Government had reversed the Congress Government’s decision of increasing the retirement age of State employees by two years, from 58 to 60 years, after which a writ was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, that put the State Government on notice for December 8.

“The decision is not born out of any ill-will against the employees. On the contrary, it is rooted in BJP Government’s concern and earnestness to provide jobs to the jobless youths and open more promotional avenues for the staff, something which could not have been possible had the decision taken by the Congress Government not been rolled back,” said the Media Adviser of Haryana CM Amit Arya.

He said that in fact, it was a well thought-out move aimed at facilitating large-scale merit-based recruitment, spanning all departments in the near future.

“The hard reality that more than six lakh jobless youths are registered with the employment exchanges in the State is not lost on the Government,” he added.

He alleged that the “political decision to increase the retirement age from 58 to 60 years was taken by the Congress Government with the sole objective of reaping electoral dividends in the Assembly elections, and with the intent of favouring some favourites”.