THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, As the United Democratic Front (UDF) prepares to form the next government in Kerala after its landslide electoral victory, a young IAS officer on Sunday proposed a series of long-term reforms, such as raising the retirement age, promoting nightlife, expanding English-language education, and zoning large areas like Malappuram.
A Facebook post by Dilip K Kainkara, who currently works as sub-collector of Tirur, sparked widespread discussion on social media, sparking support and criticism.
In his post, the 2022 batch officer said the newly elected government has a rare opportunity to make long-term reforms that may face initial resistance but will ultimately benefit society.
Calling for an increase in the retirement age from the current 56 years, he said Kerala’s rising life expectancy and improving health indicators call for a re-evaluation of the current retirement structure.
According to him, retiring employees at the age of 56 and starting paying pensions immediately is not economically wise, and raising the retirement age to at least 58 years would help rationalize human resources management in the government.
The officer also called for zoning of large districts, especially Malappuram, arguing that smaller districts would improve administrative efficiency and public access to government services.
The IIT Madras BTech alumnus said that in his personal view, the ideal district should roughly correspond to the size of the Lok Sabha constituency or about seven Assembly segments, though such a restructuring would involve additional expenses.
He noted that the resulting improvements in administrative efficiency and public convenience – especially access to government services – would make it a worthwhile investment.
Among other suggestions, Kainkara stressed the need to encourage nightlife and related activities in the state to boost tourism and attract investment in the services sector.
He also suggested limiting Malayalam medium education largely to the lower primary level with primary, secondary and higher secondary education gradually moving to English medium education.
Such a shift would help prevent new social inequalities linked to language and access to education, he said.
The IAS official also called for reforms in the school evaluation system, saying the current grading pattern has weakened academic standards.
He said the practice of arbitrarily awarding A grades should be stopped, and grades should more accurately reflect students’ academic performance and learning outcomes.
Kainkara also urged a review of the unconditional pass policy in schools to ensure students achieve basic educational competencies.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
