How Many Attempts for OBC in UPSC

Introduction

There are 9 attempts allowed for an OBC candidate until he is 35 years old. OBC refers to Other Backward Classes, which is a category of people in India. UPSC exam provides them with some relaxation. Generally, the number of attempts allowed is six, but this number varies for different categories of candidates along with the age relaxation criteria. Therefore, the candidates who are applying for the UPSC exam, must know and fulfil the eligibility criteria, for attempting the exam.

There are two categories of a UPSC exam for an OBC candidate:

1. Other Backward Classes (OBC) with 9 attempts

2. Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) + OBC, also get the same number of attempts, which is 9.

Main Content

The attempts for the OBC are higher than the number of attempts for general category candidates. The aspirants must also be aware, that OBC also has two categories:

1. Creamy Layer – The OBC candidates who fall in the Creamy Layer category do not get any relaxation criteria.

2. Non-Creamy Layer – The OBC candidate who falls in the Non-Creamy Layer category, only gets the relaxation criteria.

If a candidate tries to attempt the exam for the 10th time, then the application of the candidate gets rejected by the UPSC exam commission. A candidate who is applying for the exam must be ensured with all the syllabus and eligibility criteria, and he/she must remember the number of attempts he or she has already taken.

Some guidelines have been taken into account by the Central Government for providing relaxation in the attempts of the UPSC exam:

1. A candidate will be eligible for community reservation, only when a significant caste of a candidate is included in the list of relaxation categories, which is issued by the Central Government.

2. A candidate must generate an OBC certificate with Non-creamy layer authorisation, based on the Income for the final year.

3. The closing dates are fixed for the applications for the Civil Service Examination which will be considered as a date to determine a candidate’s OBC status.

There must be solid verification proof of the candidate’s category with original documents, required by the commission for qualifying for the interview and personality test.

An OBC candidate can only be considered ‘against vacancies’ when he or she must have a valid OBC certificate. Meanwhile, these types of OBC candidates can always attempt for unreserved vacancies to fulfil the required criteria of General categories. A candidate who can have a maximum of three years of relaxation in age-limit, and belongs to the OBC. If they belong to the PwBD or Ex-Serviceman category, they are eligible to get the age relaxation for both categories.

But there is relaxation towards the payment of the application fee. It is required for each candidate. If an OBC candidate is selected based on their own merit, they can be recommended for unreserved vacancies. This is known as the candidate reserved against vacancy.

There are several limitations that a candidate cannot request for an exchange of category.

An OBC certificate can be issued by any of the below categories:

1. Sub-divisional Officer of a candidate’s official residential area.

2. District Magistrate (DM), Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Collector, Deputy Commissioner (DC), Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), and Executive Magistrate.

3. Revenue Officer up to the post of Tehsildar.

4. Presidency Magistrate, Additional Presidency Magistrate, and Chief Presidency Magistrate.

Conclusion

The Commission, which has the authority over the UPSC exam, clearly describes in its notification that a candidate’s admission for all the stages of the examination will entirely be all the provisional subjects to satisfy the essential eligibility conditions issued by Commission and the Central Government. Along with all the above-mentioned notes, the most significant note states that if a candidate claims that he/she falls under the OBC category must provide a valid document as proof of claim without exceeding the due date of verification criteria along with satisfying the eligibility conditions.