Delhi govt teachers will now retire at 65

Keeping the elections in mind, the Delhi government has taken a populist decision and will now allow teachers to work till the age of 65. Atul Mathur reports.

Keeping the elections in mind, the Delhi government has taken a populist decision and will now allow teachers to work till the age of 65.

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According to officials, the retirement age will remain 60. But instead of giving two years extension to teachers after retirement, the education department will re-employ them for five years.

At a political rally on Friday, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit had said that the government was "seriously considering" increasing the age of retirement for teachers.

Delhi education minister Kiran Walia said they have prepared a detailed note which will be discussed in the meeting of the Delhi Cabinet next week.

"It is almost like raising the retirement age to 65 years. You can gain so much from the wealth of experience these teachers have," Walia said. "The life expectancy has also increased," the minister added.

"They will also get the benefits of retirement including pension and gratuity and will be able to draw salary of teachers for another five years," Walia said.

"The government school teachers association had also been demanding to raise the retirement age," said Dr Bijender Singh, association president and Congress MLA from Nangloi.

The retirement age of teachers at DU is already 65.

The education department has also decided to hire about 12,000 post-graduate and trained-graduate teachers through staff selection board.