Norms relaxed for OCS aspirants

Bhubaneswar: In a goodwill gesture to Odisha Civil Service aspirants, the state government has relaxed the upper age limit norm by giving another attempt to candidates who have crossed the eligibility bar.
The state General Administration (GA) department has recently issued a notification to this effect. This is the second time the government is allowing such aspirants for another attempt.
“After careful consideration, it has been decided by the government that anything contained in the Rule, the candidates who have appeared for Odisha Civil Services Examination (OCSE)-2015 or OCSE-2016 or OCSE-2017 but were otherwise ineligible to compete for OCSE-2018, on account of attainment of upper age limit or exhaustion of the attempts prescribed under the Rule, shall be allowed one more additional compensatory attempt to take OCSE-2018,” said the notification.
Soon after adopting Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) pattern in Odisha Civil Services Examination (OCSE), OCSE aspirants have been demanding extension of one more chance to take OCSE-2018 irrespective of their maximum age limit, it said.
Considering the demand of the aspirants, the government has taken the decision for immediate implementation, sources said. The provisions of the OCS (CCRE) Rules, 1991 are being amended to provide the benefit separately, the source pointed out.
In October 2017, the state government had adopted the UPSC civil services examination pattern for Odisha Civil Services and combined competitive recruitment examinations.
As per the existing norms, Paper II of OCSE prelims will be evaluated as a qualifying paper. A candidate has to secure a minimum of 33 per cent in the paper so as to be considered for Paper-I evaluation in the prelims.