The Odisha government Wednesday decided to raise the retirement age of government employees by two years to 60.
The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said the decision will benefit about half a million state government employees.
He said the decision was taken as there has been a significant improvement in the average life expectancy and the government felt it necessary to utilise the services of its senior employees.
The central government had raised the age of retirement of its employees to 60 years in 1998.