Y.S. RANA, Chandigarh—A move that is likely to bring more ageing officers in charge of a young country. Meeting a long pending demand of the states seeking promotion to the IAS, IPS and IFS, the central government has raised age limit. The Central government on Tuesday raised the maximum age limit by two years (from 54 to 56 years) for state officials seeking a promotion to the All India Civil Services, a move that is likely to bring more ageing officers in The decision has been taken by the central government on Tuesday. It means that promoted officers will serve at their new posts for no more than four years before retiring at the age of 60.
The Centre had so far close the doors for deputy collector rank officers in the states from joining the three All India Services (AIS) — the Indian Adminstrative Service, the Indian Police Service and the Indian Foreign Service — once they turned 54 but notifications by the Department of Personnel and Training have now raised the limit to 56. An PCS officer who is on deputation with the Chandigarh Administration said that the raise in age limit was a long pending demand of the state officials. Half of all IAS officers are over 50 years of age, a stark contrast to the country that is home to the world’s largest population of young people, with a third of the nation below 35.
The move also means promoted officers will serve only four years before they retire at 60 and the Centre was likely to scrap the mandatory training required before elevation due to the short duration before retirement of these personnel, a government official said. “The age relaxation meets a long-pending demand from the state civil servants after the Vajpayee government raised the retirement age from 58 to 60,” an official told HT.
The last time the age limit was raised was in the mid eighties when it was raised from 52 to 54 years. One-third of all AIS posts are reserved for state bureaucrats for states’ officers selected through the annual civil services examination making up the rest. The government had earlier proposed to make aspiring state civil servants appear for a written test, and an interview, but seemed to have given up on the proposed change.