LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to allow one-time age relaxation to the candidates aspiring to appear for the Provincial Management Service (PMS) competitive examination to be conducted by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC).

The upper age limit for appearing in the PMS examination is 30.

The PPSC chairman had initiated a summary requesting one-year age relaxation for the PMS examination aspiring candidates as the commission had not conducted the examination during the current year due to coronavirus pandemic. The chairman stated that many candidates would become ineligible, if one year relaxation was not given, and lose their right to appear for the competitive examination.

An in-principle decision was taken at the Standing Committee of Cabinet on Legislative Business meeting chaired by Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja at the Civil Secretariat on Thursday.

Punjab govt failed to conduct test this year due to Covid

The committee decided that the cut-off date for the next examination would be Jan 1, 2022. The committee will send its recommendations to the chief minister for his final nod.

Sources say the committee was unanimous in giving one-year age relaxation to the aspiring candidates but there was a difference of opinion about the process to achieve the goal of one-year age relaxation. They say the regulations and law departments wanted that the government should relax rules for a period of three months and the relaxation should go back to its original position after three months i.e. on March 31 next.

However, sources say, the additional chief secretary was of the view that a new rule should be added to allow one-year relaxation with the formal approval of the chief minister and the added rule would automatically wither away in three months i.e. March 31 next.

It is learnt that eventually, the ACS’ point of view prevailed and the committee would now recommend to the chief minister to add a new rule to allow one-year age relaxation to the aspiring candidates. This relaxation will not serve as a precedent.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2021