Ranchi, March 20: The retirement age of teachers working in colleges and universities would soon be raised from the existing 62 years to 65, human resource development minister Baidyanath Ram today said in the Assembly.

The government had earlier extended similar benefits to teachers of medical colleges in the wake of acute staff shortage.

In his budgetary speech, the minister confirmed that more than 5,000 posts of teachers of different ranks were lying vacant in colleges and varsities. He, however, did not specify whether the retirement age of university teachers, too, would be raised.

The services of supervisors of various education projects might be reinstated and grants in aid for privately managed affiliated colleges, too, would be revised, he added.

Regulations for the execution of a bipartite agreement with the para teachers are ready. Ram said the para teachers could remain in service till they were 60. He, however, remained evasive on timely payment of wages to madarsah teachers and regularisation of para teachers’ jobs.

The minister failed to come up with a convincing reply to Speaker C.P. Singh’s query on why the teachers of minority schools were not receiving timely payments.

Singh had pointed out that the teachers had not received their salaries since September last year. JMM member Lobin Hembrom also alleged that despite a cabinet decision, the deputy commissioners were slowing payments.

Hembrom demanded that the government direct the DCs to make smooth payments. But the minister only said, “There is no delay on our part.”