CHENNAI: To fill the vacancies in various departments, the State government has announced that it would regularise the jobs of persons with disability already in the departments working on a temporary basis. For this, the government has also announced a few relaxations.

As per the circular from the Department of Welfare of Differently Abled Persons, employees who are working on a temporary basis with disabilities such as visual impairment, hearing impairment, learning disability, intellectual disability and cognitive disabilities above the age of 50 who have not passed the departmental examinations conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) for the first three times, will be exempted from re-writing the examination.

Age relaxation of 10 years has been given for PwDs to apply for government jobs, as most of them join the service at 40 years. “By exempting PwDs from writing departmental examinations, they will be able to get employment and promotion based on 4% reservation for employment,” the circular noted.

Some of the eligibility criteria are: the candidate should be not less than 50 years of age, and must have written the TNPSC competitive exam at least three times and the details of it should be registered. A PwD activist said, “This will benefit several PwDs across the State.

It will also improve their financial stability and give them job assurance. Such a compassionate move should include PwDs in other age brackets too.”