Chandigarh, Aug 5 (IANS): Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday announced that the state will adopt the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) pattern by increasing the permissible number of attempts for Punjab Civil Services (PCS) aspirants from the existing four to six in the general category and nine for Backward Classes (BC)(ST), while Scheduled Caste (SC) category students would be allowed unlimited chances.

While the age limit for the SC category will be 42 years, for the general and BC/Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories it would be 37 and 40 years, respectively, as per the UPSC rules. This was announced in the Assembly.

Replying to a question raised by legislator Lakhvir Singh Lakha, the Chief Minister said the government had already been working on the changes for the past several weeks.

As per the existing Punjab Civil Service (Appointment by Combined Competitive Examination) Rules, 2009, the candidates of all the categories earlier had four chances to appear in the Punjab Civil Service examination.

Before implementation of the Punjab Civil Service (Appointment by Combined Competitive Examination) Rules, 2009, there was no limit on the attempts at the examination for all categories, the Chief Minister added.