The Maharashtra government on Thursday approved a one-time, one-year relaxation in the upper age limit for recruitment examinations, on the recommendation of a high-level committee that also proposed raising Maharashtra Public Service Commission Group C vacancies to over 16,000, The Hindu reported.
The seven-member committee, headed by Additional Chief Secretary V. Radha, was set up on September 4 to review the recruitment exam system and suggest ways to improve transparency and prevent irregularities. It submitted an interim report on Thursday.
Who benefits
Under a Government Resolution issued the same day, the relaxation applies to recruitment advertisements issued from January 1, 2026, where no stage of selection has been completed, and to fresh advertisements issued up to December 31, 2027. It also covers exams held by agencies other than the MPSC.
The commission has been told to give newly eligible candidates a special chance to apply. The usual age limits will apply again to advertisements from January 1, 2028.
More posts
About 12 lakh candidates have applied for the MPSC Group C Combined Preliminary Examination 2026, for which more than 5,000 vacancies were advertised. Government departments have since sent requisitions for over 11,000 more posts, and the committee recommended adding them through a corrigendum, taking the total past 16,000, ANI reported.
The aspirants' view
Nitin Andhale, an organiser of the MPSC students' movement, welcomed the decision. "It is a good beginning, but the government must also fulfil its promise to restore the objective examination pattern," he said, arguing that the descriptive format for the main State Services exam favours candidates who can afford costly coaching in cities.
Why it matters
With roughly 12 lakh applicants for about 5,000 posts, the competition works out to more than 200 candidates per post. Even at 16,000 posts, there would be about 75 applicants for each.