Thiruvananthapuram, May 31 (IANS): A record 11,801 Kerala government officials are set to retire on Wednesday.

Government employees in the state retire at 56 years of age. The total number of state government officials hovers around half a million.

One of the reasons for the huge number of retirements is, earlier, the date of birth would be adjusted to enable a child to get admission in the new academic year, which starts in June.

The total number of government officials falling under the retirement age bracket this fiscal year stands at 21,537, of which 11,801 would superannuate this evening.

Among those who are set to retire include state's second lady IPS official DGP- B.S.Sandhya, who steps down from the post of head of Fire and Rescue Services.

Another prominent personality is actor and mimicry artiste Joby who steps down as senior manager -Kerala State Financial Enterprise.

Despite the state's fiscal health being a cause of concern, the authorities say that even though they have to raise a staggering sum of Rs 1,500 crore to pay as the retirement service benefits, no payment will be held back due to paucity of funds.