UPSC exam rules relaxed, yet another Rahul Gandhi intervention?

, Feb 11: The Centre has decided to relax the age norms for candidates appearing in the prestigious Union Public Service Commission (

) examinations, following intervention by Congress vice-president

, a

said.

As per the existing rules, a general candidate can appear for the exams four times at the most. The maximum age limit for general candidates is 30 years while there is no restriction on the number of attempts by candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories. Those from the Other Backward Classes can make seven attempts at the most.

A general candidate now will get 6 attempts, two more than what it was earlier

Now, as per a notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, the Centre has approved two additional attempts for candidates across categories from 2014, with a relaxation in the maximum age limit.

A general candidate can now make six attempts (max age limit raised to 32 years) while the OBC candidates can make 9 attempts (max age limit raised to 35). SC and ST candidates will continue to enjoy unlimited number of attempts. The upper age limit goes up to 42 for the blind, deaf-mute and handicapped candidates, the report added.

This is the third instance when the Centre acted on the Congress vice-president intervention. The first instance happened in September last year when the government scrapped its plan to shield convicted legislators after the Gandhi scion openly rejected it. The second instance took place more recently when the central government increased the number of subsidised LPG cylinders from 9 to 12 per household after Rahul Gandhi asked the prime minister to do the same at an All-India Congress Committee meeting last month.

OneIndia News