Age Relaxation in Government Jobs: SC, ST, OBC, PwBD and Ex-Servicemen

Guides · Updated 14 Sept 2026

Every recruitment notification sets a minimum and a maximum age, calculated on a specific date mentioned in the notification. Candidates from certain categories are allowed to be older than the general upper age limit. This is called age relaxation. It raises only the upper limit — the minimum age stays the same for everyone.

Usual relaxation in Central Government recruitment

For direct recruitment to Central Government posts (for example through SSC, RRBs or UPSC), the relaxation commonly allowed over the upper age limit is:

• Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST): 5 years.
• Other Backward Classes (OBC), non-creamy layer: 3 years.
• Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD): 10 years for unreserved candidates, 13 years for OBC candidates and 15 years for SC/ST candidates.
• Ex-Servicemen: commonly 3 years after deducting the period of military service from their actual age, subject to conditions in the notification.

The Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category gets reservation in posts, but it does not get any age relaxation in Central Government recruitment. EWS candidates must meet the same age limit as unreserved candidates.

A worked example

Suppose a post has an age limit of 18–27 years on 1 August. An unreserved candidate must not be older than 27 on that date. An OBC (non-creamy layer) candidate can be up to 30, an SC or ST candidate up to 32, and an unreserved candidate with a benchmark disability up to 37. An SC or ST candidate with a benchmark disability can be up to 42.

Other relaxations you may see

Notifications often list further relaxations — for example for Central Government employees with a minimum length of continuous service, for widows and divorced women who have not remarried in certain posts, or for candidates domiciled in particular regions. These vary a lot between recruitments, so rely on the table printed in the notification.

State government jobs follow state rules

State public service commissions and selection boards apply their own state's age limits and relaxation rules, which can be quite different — some give extra years to women or to residents of the state, and reserved-category relaxation usually applies only to candidates who belong to that category in that state. A reserved-category candidate from another state typically applies as unreserved.

You need a valid certificate

Relaxation is granted only if you can prove your category with a certificate in the format the recruiter asks for — a caste certificate for SC/ST, an OBC non-creamy layer certificate in the Central Government format for Central jobs, a disability certificate (showing at least 40% benchmark disability) for PwBD, and a discharge certificate for ex-servicemen. If the certificate is invalid or in the wrong format, the relaxation — and with it your candidature — can be cancelled at document verification.

Always check the notification. Recruiting bodies can set their own rules, and state governments follow their own reservation and relaxation policies. If anything here differs from the official notification you are applying under, the notification is what counts.