Chennai: Thousands of aspirants preparing for Tamil Nadu government jobs got their answer on Friday. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay ordered a five-year relaxation in the upper age limit for competitive examinations, and the concession will hold for five years from October 30, 2026.
A state government release said the relaxation comes over and above the concessions already available under existing rules, and that it followed representations from aspirants.
For Group 1 civil services, the general category ceiling moves from 32 to 37. For reserved category candidates it rises from 37 to 42. Differently abled candidates in the general category move from 42 to 47, and those in reserved categories from 47 to 52.
Group 2 and Group 2A aspirants in the general category get 35 instead of 30. Reserved category candidates in these groups already have no upper age limit. Differently abled general category candidates move from 40 to 45.
Group 4 aspirants get 37 instead of 32. The release presented these as illustrations of how the relaxation stacks on top of the existing limit for each group and social category, and said the same pattern applies elsewhere.
The decision lands in a busy week for the Vijay government. On Thursday the state Cabinet cleared eight industrial proposals, approved a Social Justice Survey Commission to conduct caste-wise enumeration after the Union Census, and agreed to file a review petition against a Supreme Court judgment that quashed a 2024 government order on reservation for Muslims who converted from Hinduism.
Opposition parties read the timing differently. The DMK has accused the ruling TVK of using enforcement action and welfare announcements to build a narrative ahead of the Tiruchirappalli East by-election, which was necessitated after Vijay resigned the seat he had won in May while retaining Perambur.
What the new ceiling means in practice will be spelled out when the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission issues its notifications. For aspirants who had quietly dropped out because they had crossed the old line, the window is open again.