Angry teachers today submitted a memorandum asking the government to rescind the move. Principals of various private colleges of the state also held a meeting at Ludhiana to deliberate on the issue. The controversy arose when the government decided to treat the service conditions of both government and private teachers at par. While private college teachers as well as university teachers retire at the age of 60, government college teachers retire at58. On the other hand, the UGC and the Ministry of Human Resource Development have recommended a hike in their age of retirement to 62 years, which has been turned down by the Punjab government.

Today, the general secretary of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers' Union (PCCTU), V K Tewari, and president S S Hundal submitted a memorandum against the move. The former general secretary of the union, Charanjit Chawla, stated that in all previous notifications of the Punjab government, the age of retirement was clearly mentioned as 60 years. The move to alter the conditions of service during the course of employment was illegal, he added.

Punjab government officials, when contacted, conceded that the teachers had submitted a memorandum regarding the issue. While evading comments on the move, they said an early solution was likely.