The central government on Thursday decided to retain the age relaxation for candidates appearing in the 2018 civil services exam from Jammu and Kashmir. The state’s Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had raised concerns over the withdrawal of age relaxation.

After the latest amendment, the upper age limit for the general category is 32. There is a relaxation of five years for candidates from SC/ST categories, and three years for OBC candidates and Defence Service personnel who have suffered disability during operations.

The commission in its 2018 CSE notification had withdrawn the benefit that the candidates from J&K had been receiving since 1995. Now candidate who “ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu and Kashmir during the period from the 1st day of January 1980 to the 31st day of December 1989” can avail the five-year relaxation.

J&K state opposition leader Omar Abdullah in the state assembly had expressed concerns over the withdrawal and had questioned whether the state government had been consulted. He had further demanded that the central government should restore the age relaxation for UPSC aspirants from his state.