Clearing air on the issue of compulsory retirement in the education department of Uttarakhand, the education secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram has said that only those teachers would be asked to put papers who are above 50 years of age and are absent for long from their duties. He also clarified that in the first phase only the teachers who are totally incapacitated would be taken and the teachers would be given benefit of doubt in case when they come under the ambit of the compulsory retirement as the department is not in favour of putting their jobs in peril.
It is pertinent to mention here that the education department has directed all District Education Officers (DEO) to prepare a list of the teachers who come under the ambit of compulsory retirement scheme of the state government. The department has directed that the list should be prepared on the basis of six standards which include teachers who are absent for long, who are persistently ill, teachers who tend to take long leaves and teachers charged with insubordination. After the orders the list of teachers who are above 50 years of age and are not able to discharge their duties are being prepared. The different associations of teachers are up in arms against the preparation of the list for forced retirement.