New Delhi: An expert panel headed by B S Baswan has recommended reducing the upper age limit for candidates who take the civil service exams to become IAS and IPS officers.
The panel has not recommended an immediate reduction. Instead, it has recommended reducing the upper age limit in a phased manner over several years.
The panel asked the government to stop the practice of raising the Upper age of candidates aspiring to join India’s premier civil services, under political pressure.
It may be noted that recommendations by such panels have always been ignored. Successive governments have raised it, from 26 in the 1960s to 28 in the 1980s and now, 32.
The candidates belonging to scheduled caste and scheduled tribes get a 5-year relaxation in the upper age limit and OBCs get a three-year relaxation. An additional 10-year relaxation is given to Disabled candidates.
The exam is conducted to recruit officers to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) and some other services.
The report has been submitted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The UPSC will examine the report and in turn inform the government. The decision of the government is final.
