Bhubaneswar, Jan 11 (IANS): The Odisha Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday decided to raise the maximum age limit for entry in government services for a period of three years starting from 2021.

The Cabinet has decided to enhance the upper age limit for entry into government service from 32 years to 38 years only for the advertisements, made/to be made, during the calendar year 2021, 2022 and 2023, said Chief Secretary S.C. Mahapatra.

The age limit is also further relaxable in case of different reserved categories ST, SC, SEBC, women and PwD as prescribed by the government from time to time, said Mahapatra.

As the recruitment process is delayed due to Covid situation, the age of applicants gets over and they do not get ample chances to participate in the recruitment examination. So, this decision was taken, he said.

Now, the upper age limit for ST, SC, SEBC and women candidates is 43 years while the limit for general PwD candidates has been enhanced from 38 years to 48 years.

Moreover, the age limit for PwD candidates of ST/SC/SEBC category (including women candidates) has been increased to 53 years as such candidates will avail all relaxations.

The Cabinet has also approved tenders for five mega rural drinking water supply projects worth Rs 1,338.69 crore in the districts of Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Cuttack district. These projects are likely to be completed in two years.

It has further decided to provide 618.665 acres of government land to Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar free of premium.