New Delhi: BJP member K J Alphons on Monday sought a reduction in upper age limit of candidates appearing in civil service examination to 26 years saying current entrants with "advanced age" were "untrainable".
In a special mention in Rajya Sabha, Alphons, a former IAS officer who was the minister of state for culture and tourism in the previous NDA government, said the upper age limit needs to be reduced while providing appropriate concessions to OBC and SC/ST candidates.
"Civil service examinations are one of the toughest in the world. Out of around 1.5 million candidates appearing in the examination, only 100 get selected to the IAS," Alphons said.
The upper age limit for appearing in the examination was increased to 32 years for general candidates, 35 years for OBC and 37 years for SC/ST candidates.
"At that age the selected candidates are untrainable. They come with huge baggage. Civil service needs people with backbone, who are committed to the country and it is difficult to instill these qualities at such an advanced age," Alphons said.
He said, "Therefore upper age limit may be reduced to 26 years with appropriate concessions to OBCs, SC/ST candidates in a phased manner."
Alphons was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in 2017. In his special mention, Husain Dalwai (Congress) urged the government to act against honour killings.
He said that there has been a rise in attacks on inter-caste married couples in the country and the government needs to ensure strict action against the assailants.
Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) highlighted the mushrooming of pathology laboratories in the country, especially in Maharashtra.
He also sought an increase in the number of pathology seats in Maharashtra medical colleges so that qualified pathologists enter the system.
Manas Ranjan Bhunia (AITMC) urged the government to look into the matter of 1,400 Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan teachers who were allegedly not getting pensions.
"Some teachers who have won the cases are getting pension but others are not. I urge the government to come forward to address this serious situation," he said.
