Bhubaneswar, May 31: Lecturers in different state universities of Odisha have urged the state government to consider their long-standing demand of increasing the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

The teachers reiterated their demand after the Centre announced its decision to increase retirement age for government doctors from 62 to 65.

The teachers alleged that the state governments in neighbouring states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar have already increased the retirement age of university teachers.

Convener of Federation of Odisha University Teachers Association S.K. Tripathy said universities across the state would be left with hardly 20 per cent of the existing teaching faculty in the next five years if the government did not increase the retirement age with immediate effect.

Stating that the age of superannuation is a concern of all university teachers, the teachers pointed out how the post-graduate departments, which are the centres for learning and research, need the support of senior faculty members - most of who are about to retire in next one of two years.

Moreover, the UGC directed governments to exclude those who retire from active PhD guidance. The move will affect the entire PhD scenario as the newly recruited teachers are freshers with almost no experience in providing guidance to the scholars.

The mass retirement will trigger a huge dearth of experienced teachers and shortage of experts to head various projects under the universities.

"It is an irony that on one hand we need talent, but on the other we do not have the motivational package to attract the talent?" said K.C. Mallick, a faculty at OUAT.