Overlapping Candidature and the Age Cut-Off
A Combined Graduate Level applicant, born 12 August 1994, belongs to the OBC category and holds a postgraduate degree completed in 2018. The closing date for online applications is 30 September 2024. She has served for three years as a contractual data-entry operator in a state department, a post that is not a civil post under the Union or a State. Her elder brother is already a Group B officer in the same ministry to which she is applying. She is unsure whether to claim age relaxation and whether her contractual service can be counted. She also wants to know if her brother's employment creates any bar. The notification for the cycle prescribes the usual age band with category relaxations and a closing-date-based reckoning.
1. Determine her age as reckoned for eligibility and decide whether she falls within the permissible upper limit, showing the calculation.
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Age is reckoned as on the closing date, 30 September 2024, not on the date of the examination or interview. From 12 August 1994 to 12 August 2024 she has completed 30 years. From 12 August 2024 to 30 September 2024 she has not yet completed another year, so her age on the cut-off date is 30 years, 1 month and 18 days, treated as 30 years.
For OBC candidates the standard upper relaxation over the base band applies, so the ceiling moves well beyond 30. Even without any relaxation, a base ceiling of 30 would be crossed only after 12 August 2024; since she was still 30 on 30 September 2024, she is within a 30-year ceiling as well. The safe conclusion is that she is eligible on age, and she should claim OBC relaxation only if she holds a valid OBC certificate in the prescribed format issued within the validity window. Contractual service is irrelevant to age relaxation - relaxation flows from category, not from employment history.
2. Advise on whether her three years of contractual service counts toward any age relaxation or experience requirement, and whether her brother's position disqualifies her.
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Two separate misconceptions are at work.
Contractual service: Ad-hoc or contractual engagement does not create a right to age relaxation, because relaxation is tied to statutory categories (SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/ex-servicemen and specified others). Her three years in a state department on contract is not qualifying service for relaxation purposes. It could matter only if a particular post prescribes experience, and even then the certificate must show the nature and duration of work.
Brother's employment: There is no general rule barring a candidate because a relative works in the same ministry. A bar arises only in narrow situations such as a specific post being reserved for a particular category or a declared conflict-of-interest condition in the notification. She should read the post-specific conditions, but sibling employment by itself is not a disqualification.
She should therefore apply in the OBC category, ensure her certificate is current, and not rely on her contract period for any benefit.