http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/26/stories/2007092650420100.htm
Front Page State in a fix over age relaxation for jobs New rule may make many 40-plus persons also eligible HYDERABAD: As the process of recruitment for over 8,000 posts in different departments has got under way, the State Government has landed in a piquant situation over age relaxation applicable to the aspirants for various posts. Against the norm of calculating 26 years as the base age for recruitment to gazetted and 28 years to non-gazetted posts, successive Governments relaxed the maximum age limit enabling those under 34 to secure jobs. The present Government has, in principle, decided to relax the upper age limit by four more years for fresh recruitments on the lines of the procedures followed in 1998 and 2003. Officials are now assessing the impact of the decision on candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Backward Classes, physically-handicapped and ex-servicemen categories. Under the normal course, five years relaxation over and above the maximum age limit is permissible for SC/ST/BC candidates, 10 years for physically-handicapped and three years for ex-servicemen and NCC candidates. This will result in a situation where SC/ST/BC candidates up to the age of 43 years and physically-challenged candidates up to the age of 48 can appear for the written examination and interview for recruitment. The situation turns more complex in cases where physically-challenged candidates belonging to SC/ST/BC communities claim relaxation under both the categories. According to the official, a decision on scrapping the ceiling would be announced shortly.