The Karnataka state government has officially approved a significant amendment to its recruitment rules, granting a five-year relaxation in the upper age limit for candidates seeking government employment. The decision, taken at the cabinet level, applies to all direct recruitment notifications issued by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) and other state government departments.
Under the new guidelines, candidates who had crossed the prescribed age ceiling due to repeated postponements, cancellations, or prolonged pendency of examinations will now be eligible to apply. The relaxation is being applied retrospectively to active recruitment processes currently underway as well as future notifications.
Government sources indicated that the move comes in response to persistent complaints from aspirants across the state who lost their eligibility because recruitment cycles stretched over several years. In many cases, candidates who appeared for preliminary exams three or four years ago found themselves disallowed from subsequent stages solely due to age criteria, despite clearing written tests and interviews.
The Karnataka government stated that the amendment was necessitated by the severe backlog in appointments, citing the need to ensure fairness to candidates whose careers were put on hold through no fault of their own. Legal challenges filed by aggrieved aspirants in the Karnataka High Court also pressured the administration to act decisively.
Rights activists and education advocates welcomed the decision, calling it a long-overdue corrective measure. They noted that the previous rigid application of age limits had unfairly penalized candidates from economically weaker sections who often required more time to prepare for competitive examinations.
The state administration is expected to issue detailed Office Memoranda specifying the operational mechanics of the relaxation in the coming weeks.
