Madras High Court directs T.N. govt. to consider demand to increase university faculty retirement age to 65 years

The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to consider a proposal by the Tamil Nadu Federation of Universities Faculty Association (TNFUFA) to increase the retirement age of university faculty members from 60 to 65 years.

“The respondent is directed to consider and forward the orders regarding the representation of the petitioner dated 28.11.2025 on merits and in law within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order,” Justice PT Asha wrote in the order.

TNFUFA’s representation before the government comes after many state-run universities are struggling with acute shortage of faculty members, with in some cases falling short of the minimum number of faculty members appointed by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Additionally, the Department of Higher Education’s recruitment efforts have not kept pace with teacher retirements.

The Federation had sent a letter to the government on November 28, 2025, seeking to increase the retirement age of university teachers and argued that further reduction in the number of faculty members would adversely affect the quality of teaching, research and academic standards in the State. When he could not get a response from the government, he applied to the court.

In its affidavit before the Court, the Federation stated that the number of approved faculty members in 21 state-run universities is 9,201, but only 5,402 faculty members are currently on the list and 3,799 faculty positions remain vacant. For example, at the University of Madras, the total number of approved faculty members is 515, but only 180 posts have been filled. To make matters worse, at least 40 faculty members are expected to retire in the next three years.

‘There is no effort on the part of the Higher Education Department’

In the last 10 years, the Ministry of Higher Education has not made any efforts to fill vacant quotas. Moreover, the department heads of many of these universities will retire in the next few years. The federation stated that when this happens, departments will face a stalemate to take over this position due to a shortage of professor-level teachers.

Giving priority, the Federation pointed out that many states, including Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, have implemented the 65-year retirement rule.