TURA: A delegation Garo Students Union (GSU) led by Zikku Balgra N Marak, has urged the state government to consider raising the maximum upper age limit for General, OBC and Scheduled Tribes categories to apply for various government jobs in Meghalaya.
The union recently met Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and submitted a memorandum reiterating that existing uniform upper age limit of 32 years was unjustified and wrong and the same should vary for different category jobs.
“In Meghalaya, 95% of students are not graduates at the age of 18. The current age limit fixed by the government may be alright for students in towns and cities, but those from rural and backward areas usually complete their higher secondary level at the age of 23 and graduation after the age of 26 or 27 years,” the memorandum said.
The union reminded the state government that the upper age limit for scheduled tribe was 41 years in Assam, 42 in Punjab, 45 in Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand while West Bengal had raised the same several times.
“In 2006, the West Bengal Government raised the upper age limit from 32 to 37 years with a validity of 5 years. The same has been raised again to 40 years for the general category. The age relaxation for SC and ST candidates has been fixed at 45 years and for OBC/PH candidates at 43 years,” the memorandum mentioned.
During their meeting with the chief minister the union proposed that the lower and upper age limit for all jobs requiring graduation should be reconsidered and fixed at least at par with that of the UPSC which is 37 years and the chief minister is said to have assured the union to look into the matter.