Sri Vijaya Puram, July 27: Shri Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has taken up the matter with the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi Ji; Hon’ble Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah Ji; and Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of A&N Islands, Admiral (Retd.) D.K. Joshi, requesting urgent intervention to fix the upper age limit at 40 years for direct recruitment to Group-B (Non-Gazetted) and Group-C posts in all the departments under the UT of Andaman & Nicobar Administration. Copies of the letter have also been endorsed to the Chief Secretary and concerned Secretaries of the A&N Administration for their information and needful action.
In his letter, the Hon’ble MP highlighted that the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, being one of the most remote, geographically isolated, and economically constrained Union Territories of India, lack higher education institutions, industrial development and private-sector job opportunities. As a result, government employment remains the only dependable livelihood for the island’s educated youth.
Historically, the Administration has maintained a reasonable upper age limit of 38 years, in line with the local realities. However, the MP expressed serious concern over recent proposals by the UT Administration to reduce the upper age limit to 27 years for various Group-B (Non-Gazetted) and Group-C posts including posts such as Surveyor in the Revenue Department and Field Worker/Mazdoor in the Health Department.
In his written letter he mainly argued that (a) students from the islands often complete, higher studies at mainland institution (b) incurring significant financial burden, only to face disqualification from government jobs due to a restrictive age limit, (c) the local youth typically complete graduation and technical qualifications by 22–25 years, and job notifications are infrequent (d) a reduced age limit of 27 years will automatically exclude many eligible and deserving candidates, making their investment in education futile (e) Article 309 of the Constitution of India empowers UT Administrations to frame recruitment rules as per local socio-economic needs.
The MP cited examples from other Union Territories and States:
Ladakh UT has fixed the upper age limit at 40 years for all Group-B (NG) and Group-C posts vide Order No. 448 LA(GAD) of 2024 dated 27.09.2024.
Goa allows up to 45 years for state government jobs.
Telangana – up to 46 years, and Andhra Pradesh – up to 42 years for non-uniform posts.
In the light of the above justification, the Hon’ble MP made the following demands before the Central Government and UT Administration for immediate consideration.
1. Fix the upper age limit at 40 years as on 1st January of the year of recruitment for all Group-C and Group-B (Non-Gazetted) posts in all the departments under the A&N Administration in line with the UT of Ladakh vide Order dated 27.09.2024 and issue necessary notification in this regard.
2. Grant an additional relaxation of 5 years for permanent local residents of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, considering the absence of any local reservation policy.
Shri Bishnu Pada Ray urged the central government and UT Administration to adopt an inclusive, empathetic approach and protect the interests of the unemployed youth of these remote islands. A policy decision aligned with Ladakh’s model, he said, would reflect fairness and justice for the islanders’ aspirations and challenges.
Sir age lime 40 karna chahiye…jis tarah se govt. Vacancy nikal rahe hai…last year group C post nikla he nahi…j