In good news for lakhs of aspirants, the government has decided to allow more attempts for the exam conducted by Union Public Service Commission, from this year. This comes after an assurance by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to a delegation of civil service aspirants; many of them had protested outside his home.
Currently, a candidate is allowed a maximum of four attempts, till they are 30. There is no such limit on candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories. Candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes get seven attempts.
The government's decision will impact candidates who have exhausted six attempts before 30 years of age. This year's exams are scheduled to be held in August.
The Civil Service Examinations is conducted for the selection of officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) among others.
The examinations are conducted in three stages-- preliminary, mains and interview.
The upper age limit is relaxable up to a maximum of five years for candidates belonging to SCs or STs categories and up to a maximum of three years for candidates of OBC category among others.
The upper age limit is also relaxable upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir during January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1989. It can also be relaxed for the disabled.