HYDERABAD: Students desirous of applying for the Group 1 examination of Telangana Public Service Commission are concerned about the eligibility criteria of height of the candidate for certain posts. The posts in the line of contention include 91 Deputy Superintendent of Police and 26 Assistant Excise Superintendent (AES) officer posts which make up about 25% of 503 posts.
According to the TSPSC to qualify for the same, male candidates need to be 167.6 cm which is higher than the height limit put in by UPSC or PSC for similar posts in other states which is currently fixed at 165 cm. For female candidates, TSPSC has set the height at 152.5 cm as against national norm of height of 150 cm including in UPSC.
In fact, a comparison with 13 other states show that 165 cm is the height across states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir etc. For females, across States the height ranges from 150-160 cm.
“Nearly 20 States have given an eligible height for DSP post as 165 cm, because this position after eight years of service becomes IPS. So, by that logic 165 cm is the accurate eligible height. But in Telangana, it is 167.6 cm which is nearly as much as the height needed for a Constable position. We are requesting the government to give some exemption so that at least majority of the students will be eligible to give the exam and not lose out by 2 cm,” said Shekhar Y, a TSPSC aspirant.
The main reason for the demand is also that since these two positions are not field-level jobs like SI and Constable, the height can be negotiable. “The job of DSP unlike before is not so physically demanding but relies a lot on technology which is why having more height should not be a criteria,” added another student.
Many will fall short