MPSC Group C exam: panel recommends over 16,000 posts, one-year age relaxation

A high-level committee, formed under a government order of September 4, 2026 to make the state's recruitment examinations more transparent, secure and trustworthy, has submitted its interim report to the government.

The committee had held discussions with students from various departments and other stakeholders, and studied the demands, suggestions and opinions that emerged. Students had raised some important and urgent issues on which a decision was needed first. For this reason, the committee presented an interim report without waiting to complete the full report.

The first recommendation is to increase the number of posts. About 12 lakh candidates have applied for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission's Group C Services Combined Preliminary Examination 2026. An advertisement is currently out for more than 5,000 posts. In addition, various departments have sent the commission requisitions for more than 11,000 further posts. The committee has recommended that these additional posts be added through a corrigendum, taking the total to more than 16,000.

The second major recommendation concerns age. In view of candidates' demand, it has proposed a one-time relaxation of one year in the maximum age limit. The relaxation would apply to all advertisements issued after January 1, 2026 for which the selection process has not begun. It would also apply to advertisements issued up to December 31, 2027. The relaxation is for all recruitment examinations.

The committee has also recommended reopening the application process, so that candidates who become newly eligible for the Group C examination 2026 because of the additional posts and the age relaxation get a chance to apply.

The committee has made a few more recommendations on the MPSC examination process. No change should be made to the current examination pattern and syllabus of the Group C preliminary examination. The syllabus for the main examination for the new cadres to be added should be announced soon.

As a precaution, the earlier work of preparing the question paper should be cancelled and a new paper prepared through a secure process. Strict security should be maintained for the printing, storage and transport of question papers and OMR answer sheets. The committee's recommendations also include police deployment at examination centres, CCTV surveillance, signal jammers and trained staff.