Clearing the air on reducing the age criteria to appear in the prestigious civil services examinations, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that the Modi government has no plan to alter the age parameter. This comes days after NITI Aayog had suggested reducing the maximum age for the aspirants to 27 years. It had also said that recruits should be placed in a central talent pool, which would then allocate candidates by matching their competencies and the job description of the post.

“There is no move by Government to alter the age criteria of eligibility to appear in civil service examinations. Reports and speculations should be put to rest,” Singh told ANI.

Singh, who holds the charge of Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, is also the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions.

The statement by Singh is seen as a sign of relief for the aspirants who start preparing late and wanted to join the bureaucracy.

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Recently, NITI Aayog, in its comprehensive report on the national strategy for 2022-23, has proposed a slew of measures to bring in reforms in recruitment, training and performance evaluation for the UPSC-conducted examination.

The government think-tank, Niti Aayog has suggested that the upper age limit for entry into the civil services be brought down to 27 years from the present 32 years for the candidates from the general category in a phased manner by 2022-23. In the ‘Strategy for New India @75’ document, NITI Aayog also pitched for an integrated exam for all civil services.

The Aayog, which was formed by the Modi government after replacing the Nehru-era Planning Commission, had also said that the recruited candidates should be placed in a central talent pool, which would then allocate them by matching their competencies and the job description of the post and the number of exams for civil services should ideally be brought down to one with all-India ranking.

Meanwhile, UPSC on Thursday had declared the results of the civil services (main) examination 2018 held in September-October for selection to the IAS, IFS, IPS among other central services. On basis of the results, the successful candidates have qualified for the personality test for selection to various services (Group A and Group B).

The civil services examination is conducted by Union Public Service Commission, which is a Constitutional body. Every year lakhs of aspirants sit for the examinations and is conducted in three stages with Preliminary being the first stage, which is a screening test to appear for the second stage. The main examination is the second and personality test is the final stage of the examination.