Don’t take this article as a normal blog on the site I would love to have a debate on the issue I am gonna discuss with you all. Can anyone of us tell me if his/her parents in any government job have worked after their retirement age????? No… If asked I think many of us can tell the approximate retirement age of various Government officials. Even one of the biggest and leading business tycoon of the nation at the age of 73 declared his retirement well in advance… The guess is exactly right on the mark I am talking about the dream car NANO’s project dreamer Mr. RATAN TATA. I don’t think he needs to retire from his active life. He being the head and the backbone of the company what he has to do after retirement. Since my childhood every alternate year I used to see a mob lead by an old aged guy with garlands across his neck, with folded hands asking my parents, neighbours and the whole locality people even the city to vote for him and get him elected for the said post of either a corporator, mayor, member of legislative assembly or parliament.

Even one of the most prestigious post holder of the nation CHIEF JUSTICE of INDIA has a fixed retirement age of 65. So here follows the big question. Why isn’t there an age restriction for contesting the elections? Come on… we have a retirement age even for a clerk working in the state/central government. I guess people are forced to retire at a certain age mainly for two reasons. 1. They “may” not be able work as effectively as they did during their 30’s/40’s. 2. I think retiring old people will enable the younger generation to get into the work pool. If there are any other reasons, please let me know. So when all government employees (right from a clerk to the topmost admin) have a retirement age, why isn’t there one for people contesting the elections. I got the list of current Lok Sabha MPs and there are more than 150 people who are 60+. That’s more than 25% of the House. Some argue that experience comes of age. If that is true, why is there a retirement age in the first place for other jobs? A clerk would get more and more experienced as he/she crosses 60, 70, 80 and so on. I think technically, the MPs are not employees of the Government and hence retirement age may not be applicable. If that is the case, the rule should be imposed at least to the Council of Ministers as they definitely are employees of the Government. But this may lead to some being puppets of other members. So better not to allow people who have crossed the age limit to contest the elections. Also, most politicians will argue that they are here to "serve the people" and that the age should not be a deterrent. They are most welcome to "serve the people" by being an active member of their party, but cannot contest elections/hold any ministerial posts. Maybe I am completely wrong and there is a logical/sensible explanation to this. If there is something, I would definitely like to know about that. Many intellectuals of the nation are so conscious on this issue. Among them is Infosys mentor NR Narayana Murthy. According to Murthy; politicians should retire at the age of 60 and act as advisors without playing an active role in governance. He believes, the country needs young brains with great vision that will be given only by the younger generation. Murthy’s statement came before media while he released his book, ‘A Better India, A Better World’— a compilation of his speeches delivered all over the world—by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He also strongly advocated that politicians after 60 should adopt ‘Vanaprastha’. Indian mythology is replete with many instances of the older generation taking the role of grandparents while allowing young leaders to take the lead.

The IT tycoon spoke on elections 2009, including economic growth and hate speeches by some politicians. As per his opinion, there should be a council of elders who will be available for the younger generation, like grandparents at home, to advise them. Interestingly, The software icon, had intended to join politics in his early thirties but due to some inevitable reasons he could not fulfill his dream. He further said that if I had joined politics, I would have quit at the age of 60. Appreciating the trend of youngsters joining politics, he said it was a good sign that many corporate leaders like Captain Gopinath of the low-cost carrier Deccan Airlines and banker Meera Sanyal entered the fray this time. Expressing disgust over the bad words mouthed by the netas by making personal attacks during campaigns, Murthy said, leaders should fight polls based on issues of development and inclusive growth. Our electoral battle should be restricted to issues pertaining to development, poverty alleviation, infrastructure and better education. In an oblique reference to the war of words between BJP leader LK Advani and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he opined that Politicians are taking swipes at each other on trivial issues rather than discussing serious matters pertaining to the layman. At present, elections are fought on caste and religious lines rather than on developmental issues. I hope participation of younger people in elections would lead to issue-based politics rather than trivial caste-based politics. Commenting on the manifestos of various parties, Murthy said that whatever subsidies announced by them should go to the poor. In this connection, he also said that such poll planks as banning English medium schools or computers were ridiculous and anti-people. Undoubtedly, in changed scenario Murthy’s vision regarding India and Indian politics is absolutely true. There should be adopted corrective measures by concerned authorities and persons as early as possible, so that real benefit of governance goes to the poor. Technically on the basis of the statistics available with us if we see the nation is already burdened with elections before time, & above that if we don’t get an age bar for POLITICIANS, then as we have seen many a times By- Elections are a result. Taking it on a serious note I want all of us to raise this issue at national level for a DEBATE. Its high time, the age of retirement is to be fixed. Even ATAL ji the veteran LEADER and former P.M. opted for retirement from politics. Mr. Abul Kalam refused to re- contest as PRESIDENT. Then why can’t the other veteran think for it and why doesn’t the government takes a decision on this……….. JAGO BHARAT JAGO