The Centre has also approved age relaxation for Kashmiris to appear in UPSC exams
In a gesture to help the people of flood-affected Jammu & Kashmir, the External Affairs Ministry has decided to waive off fees for fresh passport for those whose travel documents were either lost or damaged in the floods. Such persons can now get fresh passports made at no extra cost. In another big relief, the Government has extended the upper age limit for civil services aspirants from the State from 32 years to 37 years. This relief will be provided till next year end.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also gave approval for fee waiver for passports. This waiver of fee would be a one-time exception for the passport holders whose earlier passport has been issued either from Passport Office, Jammu or from Passport Office, Srinagar. This scheme would be valid for next six months so that people displaced from floods can first settle down and then get the documents made. However, the replacement passport would be issued with the same particulars and remaining validity of previous passport.
Swaraj has also directed her Ministry to restore work in passport offices in the State at the earliest. “These floods have resulted in an unprecedented loss of life and property. In order to contribute to the relief efforts that are currently underway in Jammu & Kashmir, the Ministry of External Affairs has decided to take immediate steps to restore back the passport facilities to the flood-affected passport holders whose passports have been lost/damaged due to floods,” the MEA said in a statement.
For the civil services conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), relaxation has been given for the upper age limit to appear in the examination.
“The Central Government has decided to extend the age relaxation to all persons who had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1989 for a further period of two years beyond December 31, 2013,” the Department of Personnel and Training said in an order.
The Ministry also clarified that nobody’s interest will be adversely affected by the retrospective effect being given to the rules, it said. A notification in Jammu & Kashmir (Relaxation of upper age limit for recruitment to Central Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1997, for relaxing upper age limit till 2015 has been issued by the DoPT. As per the civil services 2014 notification, the upper age limit is relaxable up to a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir during January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1989.
The Department has also asked the Ministry of Railways, Department of Financial Services, Department of Public Enterprises, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Department of Electronics, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for issue of similar orders for appointment to posts under their control, nationalised banks or public sector undertakings.