THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala University Syndicate has made a rare move by raising the retirement age to 60 with retrospective effect. The retirement age was raised with effect from March this year in order to retain an officer that retired in that month. The current retirement age is 58.

The move was made to retain a research officer who retired from the Population Research Centre under the Kerala University in March. It is learnt that the officer earned Rs 1 lakh per month. The Population Research Centre is fully funded by the central government. The service pay structure of the respective states is allotted to the employees of the Center. The retirement age is similar to that of the employees of state government.

Changes in service pay conditions require the prior approval of the central government. The university's administration and finance sections had ruled that raising the retirement age and reassigning a retired employee is illegal. Many employees of this centre have retired without the pension age getting raised. The issuance of the illegal order while the code of conduct is in force has also become controversial.