Should there be a retirement age for politicians in India?

In Favor :-

• People’s representatives should be fit physically as well as psychologically.
• Senior politicians should give chance to young politicians. So that fresh ideas and plans can be implemented.
• Politics involve a lot of travelling. One cannot rule the city by sitting at their office. Continuous travelling and visits require a lot of physical strength.
• Politicians should not take many leaves. Older politicians tend to take many leaves because of age related ailments.
• Young people are more flexible, adoptive and risk taking when compared to senior politicians.
• There is a retirement age for public servants as well as private employees. So the same rule should be applied to politicians as well.

Against :-

• Senior politicians have vast practical knowledge about the issues in the country. They tend to become more wiser with age. If there is a retirement age for politicians, this learned knowledge will go into vain.
• Not all older politicians lack physical strength. It highly depends on their lifestyle and food habits.
• Ultimate decision to elect a person will be in the hands of public. So, there is no point in setting the age limit, where people can vote them out if the person is not in a position to be a public representative.
• Patience and diplomacy comes with age in general. Young politicians tend to be aggressive in taking decisions.

Situation in India :-

• About 80% of Indian politicians are above 70 years of age where as 70 per cent of India’s population is below 40 years of age.
• Most of the political parties have persons who can be categorized as senior citizens on key or decision making positions.
• ‘Rishang Keishing‘, a senior politician is served as Member of Parliament till the age of 94. He was the oldest serving parliamentarian in the world when he was retired in 2014.

Conclusion :-

It’s time to give opportunity to young blood in administering the nation. However senior politicians should assist the young politicians with their practical knowledge they learned through years. Most of the developed countries are trusting young leaders. It’s a progressive trend, which needs to be implemented in India too.

Afterwords :- Do you think there should be retirement age for politicians. Express your views in the comment section below.

Photo Credits : Nupur Barua

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