The Odisha State Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, has approved a significant amendment to the Odisha Civil Services (Combined Competitive Recruitment Examination) Rules, 1991. The key change eliminates all restrictions on the number of attempts for the Odisha Civil Services (OCS) Examination.
According to a press brief issued by the General Administration & Public Grievance (GA&PG) Department, candidates who fulfil the prescribed age and other eligibility conditions can now appear for the OCS Examination without any limit on the number of attempts. The government stated that the amendment will ensure wider and fairer opportunities for merit-based selection.
This formal cabinet approval implements the decision announced by Chief Minister Majhi during his Independence Day address in August 2026. At that time, the state government had also raised the upper age limit for government jobs to 42 years and scrapped the earlier attempt ceilings (previously six attempts for general category candidates and nine for SEBC candidates, with no limit for SC/ST candidates).
The move is expected to benefit thousands of aspirants preparing for one of Odisha’s most competitive examinations.
By allowing repeated attempts within the age limit, the amendment aims to give candidates more opportunities to succeed on the basis of merit rather than being restricted by a fixed number of tries.
