MPSC panel recommends over 16,000 Group-C vacancies, one-year age relaxation for recruitment exams

A highlevel committee has recommended increasing the number of vacancies for the Maharashtra Public Service Commissionrsquos MPSC GroupC Combined Preliminary Examination 2026 to more than 16000 along with a onetime relaxation of one year in the upper age limit for recruitment examinationsThe committee headed by IAS officer V Radha submitted its interim report to the Maharashtra government recommending measures to improve transparency security and reliability in the recruitment process an official statement said on ThursdayGroupC vacancies may rise to over 16000Around 12 lakh candidates have applied for the GroupC examination 2026 for which more than 5000 vacancies have already been advertisedVarious government departments have submitted requisitions to the MPSC for over 11000 additional posts The committee has recommended including these vacancies in the recruitment process taking the total number of posts to more than 16000The recommendations come amid allegations of irregularities and malpractices in MPSC examinations and protests by aspirantsOnetime age relaxation proposedThe committee has recommended a onetime relaxation of one year in the upper age limit for all recruitment examinations as a special measureThe proposed relaxation would apply to advertisements issued after January 1 2026 for which the selection process has not begun and up to December 31 2027The committee has also recommended reopening the application process once for the GroupC examination This would allow candidates who become eligible because of the additional vacancies and the proposed age relaxation to applyExisting GroupC preliminary exam pattern to continueThe committee has suggested retaining the existing examination pattern and syllabus for the GroupC preliminary examinationIt has also recommended that the syllabus for the main examinations of newly included cadres be announced at the earliest according to the official statementThe recommendations are intended to address concerns among candidates and ensure that the recruitment process remains consistent while additional posts are includedFresh question papers proposed as precautionThe committee has recommended scrapping the existing question papersetting exercise and preparing fresh papers through a secure process as a precautionary measureThe proposal comes amid concerns over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the MPSCThe panel has also called for stringent security arrangements during the printing storage and transportation of question papers and answer sheetsPolice CCTV and signal jammers recommendedThe committee has proposed several security measures at examination venues including police deployment CCTV surveillance and the use of signal jammersIt has also recommended stronger safeguards for handling examination material at different stages from printing to transportation and storageThe committee was constituted on September 4 2026 following allegations of irregularities and protests by MPSC aspirants