UPSC exams: Panel submits report recommending reduction in upper-age limit

A panel formed to look into various matters related to civil services examination is understood to have recommended reduction in upper-age limit of 32 years to appear in the prestigious test to select IAS and IPS officers among others. The expert committee was constituted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) under the chairmanship of former Human Resource Development Secretary and retired IAS officer B S Baswan in August last year. The panel has submitted its report to the UPSC recently, official sources said on Friday, without divulging content of the report.

The Committee has recommended reduction in the upper-age limit for candidates to appear in the examination, they said. The UPSC plans to hold discussions with the Ministry of Personnel on the panel's recommendations, the sources said. The panel has examined the plan of examination, number of papers, their structure and duration, marking scheme, weightage of marks and system of evaluation among others, they said.

The Committee was earlier asked to submit its report within six months time. But, it was given extension for a further period of six months, till this month-end. The civil services examination is conducted by UPSC annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2016, as per the latest notification for the exam. The upper-age limit is further extendable for candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, and those who had ordinarily been domiciled in Jammu and Kashmir during the period from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1989.