No Proposal from Niti Aayog on Reducing Age Limit for Civil Services
The government’s think-tank, Niti Aaayog has given a suggestion to reduce the upper age limit to 27 for entry into the civil services. However, the government confirmed that it had not received any proposal for the same.
Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Jitendra Singh revealed that the government did not receive any proposal regarding the reduction of upper age limit for UPSC civil services examination. As of now the upper age limit for UPSC Civil Services examination is 32 years for General Category. It is 35 for OBC and 37 years for SC/ST aspirants, he confirmed.
Recently, the government’s think-tank, Niti Aaayog has given a suggestion to reduce the upper age limit to 27 for entry into the civil services. As of now, the age limit is 30 for the general category candidates, and the suggestion is to reduce it in phases by 2022-23.
The proposal was made in the document, ‘Strategy for New India@75’ wherein Niti Atyog also pitched for an integrated exam for all civil services. The document also stated that the current 60 plus separate civil services at the central and the state level should be reduced through rationalization and harmonisation of services.
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Recruitment should be done through a centralized process where recruits should be placed in a central talent pool, and that would allocate candidates by matching their skills and the job description of the post. States can also be encouraged to make use of this pool for recruitments. The number of exams for civil services should be brought down to one with all-India ranking, as per the document. Also, for the employees of autonomous bodies, the service conditions should be regulated.
It is also important to note that the reforms in civil services are a continuous process and a lot of initiatives have been taken by the government in recent years.
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NITI Aayog was formed in 2015 and it is known as the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Indian government. It offers technical advice to the states and the centre and also designs long-term policies and plans for the government of India.