SHILLONG: The youth wing of KHNAM on Tuesday staged a demonstration in front of the Meghalaya Secretariat demanding that the government increase upper age limits of SC/ST candidates for civil service examinations.
Speaking to media persons during the protest in front of the Secretariat, president of the youth wing Thomas Passah said the Government must amend the advertisement for recruitment to the Meghalaya Civil Service by increasing the qualifying age to 40 years for scheduled caste/scheduled tribe candidates. He said the upper age limit for ST/SC candidates in most of the northeastern states is 40 years and even Assam has fixed it at 43 years “but Meghalaya is the only state in the country with an age limit of 32 years and hence they are providing the least employment opportunity to local youths”. According to Passah, last Friday they met the Principal Secretary of the Personnel Department and were informed that the file is under process.
“We were hoping to get some good news from the Government on Monday but surprisingly there was no information. This compelled us to come out today in front of the Secretariat and protest against the adamant attitude of the Meghalaya Government,” he said.
The last date for filing the applications for the civil service examinations is August 31 and the youth wing wants the Government to amend the upper age limit by Wednesday.
Passah said as per para 9 (2) of the Meghalaya Civil Service Rules, the government can relax the upper age limit with respect to any category of Civil Service exam.
Stating that the state government does not have the will to provide employment to the youth, the party added that this attitude is pushing youths towards illegal ways.
The party leader also made it clear that they might take legal course if their demands are not met.