The newly sworn-in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, has raised the upper age limit for entry into state government jobs from 40 to 45 years. This decision was taken during the first cabinet meeting held on Monday at the state secretariat Nabanna. The move aims to address what the government described as a decade-long "recruitment deadlock" and fulfills an election guarantee made by the party.
Addressing Recruitment Deadlock
After the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Adhikari addressed reporters, stating that the five-year relaxation would serve as a lifeline for lakhs of educated aspirants who had become ineligible due to the absence of regular recruitment cycles under the previous administration since 2015. "Lakhs of educated young men and women became ineligible due to stalled processes," Adhikari said. "This five-year relaxation is our guarantee to those who were deprived of opportunities."
Adhikari emphasized that employment and transparent recruitment are top priorities for his government. He recalled that during the election campaign, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised that the BJP would resolve the deadlock and provide opportunities to deprived candidates. "Today, we have fulfilled that guarantee in our first hour," he added.
Cabinet Meeting Attendees
The cabinet meeting was attended by key ministers, including Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, and Nisith Pramanik. The gathering marked a significant shift towards closer cooperation with the central government, departing from the previous state administration's confrontational stance with New Delhi.
Shift in Administrative Approach
The cabinet also mandated central training programmes for IAS, IPS, and West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) officers. Adhikari stated that the "unwritten instructions" of the previous administration to avoid such programmes were scrapped to align West Bengal with national administrative standards. He assured that all existing social welfare schemes would continue transparently, and the integration of state projects with central schemes is expected to be the primary strategy to manage the financial burden.
