Hyderabad: Faculty members at the state’s universities are writing to the University Grants Commission seeking a push of the retirement age to 65 years from the existing 60. The Commission is now calling for opinions from stakeholders from all states on the matter.
According to Prof. Battu Satyanarayana, president of Telangana State Federation of University Teachers Association (TSFUT), the retirement age in Telangana is one of the lowest compared to central universities and other states.
“In Central varsities the retirement age is 65. Also, retired professors can be roped in for teaching again depending upon the requirement until they are 70,” he said.
In states including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh the retirement age is 65. The teachers said enhancing the retirement age is the only solution because no new recruitments have been done for the past several years.
In the case of Osmania University, the number of permanent teaching staff is 580 while the number of vacancies is 680. A majority of vacancies have been filled by contract teachers.
According to Battu Satyanarayana, who is also the president of OUTA (Osmania University Teachers Association), nearly half of the present permanent staff are senior professors who will be retiring in the next four years.
