Chennai: Chief Minister Vijay has ordered an increase of 5 years in the upper age limit for direct recruitment to government jobs.
In a press release issued by the Tamil Nadu government today regarding this, it said: Accepting the demands of competitive exam candidates, Chief Minister Vijay has ordered an increase of 5 years in the upper age limit for direct recruitment to government jobs, compared with the current rules.
This increase in the age limit will be in addition to the existing age relaxations for reserved categories (BC, BC-Muslim, MBC, DNC, SC, ST, destitute widows). This increase in the age limit will apply to all competitive examinations, including Group-1, Group-2, 2A, and Group-4.
In the Group-1 exam, the age limit for the general category will increase from 32 to 37, and for reserved-category candidates from 37 to 42. In the Group-2 exam, the age limit for the general category will increase from 30 to 35.
As before, there will be no upper age limit for reserved-category candidates. In the Group-4 exam, the age limit for the general category will increase from 30 to 35. Among reserved categories, it will increase from 32 to 37 for BC, BC-Muslim, MBC, and DNC categories.
For SC and ST candidates and destitute widows, the upper age limit will increase from 35 to 40. For reserved-category candidates who have obtained additional educational qualifications, there will be no age limit. For persons with disabilities, as per the current rules, there is an additional 10-year relaxation in the age limit.
This upper age limit will be in effect for 5 years from October 30 this year. It has been stated that this order of the Tamil Nadu government will benefit tens of thousands of competitive exam candidates whose age limit is about to expire.
Officers and employees required for Tamil Nadu government jobs are directly selected through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. For this purpose, TNPSC competitive examinations are conducted. In that category, the TNPSC Group-1 examination is held for the posts of Deputy Collector, DSP, Assistant Director of Rural Development, Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, District Registrar, Divisional Fire Officer, and Assistant Commissioner of Labour.
Similarly, the Combined Group-2 and 2A examinations are conducted to fill posts such as Municipal Commissioner (Grade-2), Sub-Registrar, Assistant Section Officer in the Secretariat, Labour Inspector, Senior Revenue Inspector, Assistant in various departments, and Town Panchayat Executive Officer (Grade-2). The Group-4 examination is conducted for posts including Junior Assistant, Typist, Steno-Typist, and Village Administrative Officer. For technical posts, Combined Technical Services examinations are conducted.
For every competitive examination, a specific age limit has been prescribed for the general category and for reserved categories. Accordingly, for the Group-1 examination, the age limit is 32 for the general category and 37 for reserved categories. Similarly, for the Group-2 and 2A examinations, the age limit is 30 for the general category. There is no age limit for reserved categories. For them, an age limit applies only to certain posts.
Different age limits have been prescribed for the Group-4 examination and for technical examinations. As for persons with disabilities, they are given a relaxation of 10 years in the age limit.
Since competitive examinations for government jobs were not being conducted every year, the demand to increase the age limit had long been among TNPSC aspirants. For the past 10 years, aspirants, especially those already in government service after having written the Group-4 or Group-2 examinations, had been continuously urging the government to raise the age limit for the Group-1 examination to 45, as in other states. Likewise, candidates from the general category had also been repeatedly requesting the government to increase their age limit.
In this context, it is noteworthy that Chief Minister Vijay has ordered an increase of 5 years in the upper age limit for government jobs, in order to fulfill the long-standing demand of candidates.
