Lucknow, Jan 11 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh may increase the retirement age of doctors deployed at the government hospitals in a bid to address their shortage.

Director general medical and health (DGMH) Dr Lilly Singh has received a letter from the department's special secretary, seeking a proposal to increase the retirement age of doctors to 65 years from the current 62 years, along with an option to work till the age of 70.

This increase in the retirement age, if implemented, will be the third such move.

The age limit was first raised to 60 years from 58 years in 2019.

Specialist doctors retiring and getting transferred adversely impacts the health services. The number of PG seats at the government colleges that offer courses are also affected, the letter read.

The medical education department has already enhanced the retirement age of faculty members to 65 years.

At present, the medical and health department has over 3,000 specialist doctors who also work as faculty members to offer PG/DNB courses at some government hospitals. The total strength of doctors is close to 14,000, with over a dozen doctors retiring every month.