The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence says extending the retirement age of state employees to 65 could have devastating consequences for the country.
Speaking to NewsRadio, the National Co-ordinator of the CMEV Manjula Gajanayake said this would render the public service more inefficient.
Gajanayake said youth employed in the state sector do not have the freedom to execute their duties at present adding the state sector has been completely politicised throughout the history of Sri Lanka.
He said the proposal will result in youth capable of taking the country towards a new direction being disheartened in the state sector.
He added the state sector will be left with crowds of older state employees who will act according to political motives.
Commenting on the statement made by the Minister of Finance claiming public servants are a burden to the country, Gajanayake said it was humorous.
He noted the reason being that the state sector only had 600,000 employees during 2005-2006 while the numbers have now increased to 1.6 million employees.
He said politicians are completely responsible for the soaring numbers as employment opportunities are the main campaign promise during elections.
