Five-year age relaxation approved for govt jobs

KARACHI: The Sindh government has approved a five-year age relaxation for government jobs, ARY News reported on Thursday.

According to a notification issued by the Chief Secretary of Sindh, the decision will be effective from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2026.

The new rules provide a five-year relaxation in the age, allowing candidates to apply for government jobs up to the age of 33. This relaxation will apply to all government jobs, except for the SCE exam.

Previously, the age limit for applicants was set at 28 years following a court ruling that overturned an earlier decision to allow an upper age limit of 43 years.

The Supreme Court upheld a Sindh High Court order, striking down a 2020 notification by the Sindh government that had granted up to 15 years of age relaxation for government job applicants.

Also read: No more jobs under son quota

The court clarified that while departmental secretaries could authorize age relaxations of up to two years, and the chief secretary up to five years, broader relaxations required specific justification and adherence to legal frameworks.

The Sindh government’s decision to revise the age limit aims to strike a balance between facilitating opportunities for potential candidates and maintaining compliance with judicial rulings.

In a separate development, earlier,  PM Shehbaz Sharif approved abolishing the son quota for recruiting a family member of an employee who passed away while in service.

PM Shehbaz approved changes to the job policy under the Prime Minister’s Assistance Package, the sources said, and added that the policy previously allowed a family member of a deceased government employee to be offered a government job.