Kerala Cabinet raises PSC examination eligibility age to 40 for general category candidates

The Kerala government on Tuesday raised the age limit for general category candidates applying for the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) examinations from 36 to 40 years. 

The Cabinet clarified that the age ceiling for job aspirants, including those hailing from the Other Backward Communities (OBC), a major demographic comprising backward Hindu, Muslim and Christian sections, and those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes categories will rise correspondingly.

Currently, candidates belonging to the OBC and SC/ST categories can apply for PSC examinations till 39 and 43 years respectively. 

The government expects the “watershed decision” to benefit lakhs of government job aspirants with qualifications ranging from SSLC to postgraduate degrees in a State saddled with a perennially high rate of educated youth unemployment (29.9%). 

The decision comes in the run-up to the Assembly elections and against the backdrop of a series of aggressive protests from youth cutting across political lines, accusing the government of non-reporting of vacancies, failing to fill available posts and deliberately allowing PSC rank lists, including for the post of Civil Police Officers (CPO) and Last Grade Servants (LSG), to expire. 

Hundreds of PSC rank holders had sought to put the government on the defensive by staging hunger strikes, public tonsuring of heads, rolling on the road and airing suicide threats in front of the Secretariat, providing ammunition to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to portray the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government as “anti-youth.”

Notably, the Opposition had slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s contentious statement that making it to the rank list did not necessarily entail a sure appointment, calling it “contemptuous” of jobseekers. 

Decision welcomed

A. Basheer, secretary of the Kerala PSC Rank Holders Association, welcomed the decision. He said the decision widened the path to government employment for educated youth, especially those from marginalised sections of society, including minorities.

The change in age criteria is sure to help lakhs of PSC aspirants, according to K. Sebastian, president of the Kerala PSC Employees Union. He reasons that hundreds of people who drop out of the information technology sector in their mid- or late 30s are now seeking government jobs. “A good 60% of the candidates who clear the Secretariat Assistant examination are engineering graduates, and many of them seek employment in the government sector after trying out various other options. This is also sure to benefit those who seek employment after marriage or those looking for a second job or one with very few vacancies,” Mr. Sebastian points out.

Landing a job through PSC at 40 doesn’t take away anything from them, as the pensionary age has been increased to 60 years for those who joined service after April 1, 2013, he says.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan was not immediately available for comment.