Tamil Nadu: Annamalai seeks age relaxation for TNPDCL AE recruitment aspirants

Tamil Nadu politician K Annamalai has urged the state government to grant one-time special age relaxation to candidates affected by delays in the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) assistant electrical engineer recruitment process.

In a post on X, Annamalai alleged that engineering graduates waiting for TNPDCL assistant electrical engineer recruitment since 2020 were affected by repeated delays, cancellation of examinations and changes in recruitment procedures.

According to Annamalai, the TNPDCL recruitment examination announced in 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later cancelled in 2022 citing administrative reasons.

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He said the Tamil Nadu government had subsequently announced that future recruitments would be conducted through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) under the TNPSC (Additional Functions) Act, 2022.

However, the he claimed that no fresh notification for TNPDCL assistant electrical engineer recruitment was issued for nearly three years.

Recruitment controversy

Annamalai alleged that 195 TNPDCL assistant electrical engineer vacancies were later filled using the results of the Public Works Department (PWD) assistant electrical engineer examination conducted by TNPSC.

According to him, the announcement was made one week before the release of PWD recruitment examination results on July 26, 2024.

“This caused injustice to candidates who had been waiting for TNPDCL recruitment since 2020,” Annamalai said in the post.

He further alleged that the upper age limit of 32 years prescribed for the recruitment process affected several eligible candidates because of administrative delays.

Age limit concerns

Annamalai referred to Tamil Nadu government order number 91 issued on September 13, 2021, which provided two years of age relaxation for recruitment examinations delayed due to the pandemic.

However, he argued that the TNPDCL recruitment process itself remained delayed for several years and therefore, broader age relaxation should have been provided.

“Given that the exams were already delayed by two years since 2020, how can a mere two-year age relaxation be considered appropriate?” he asked.

According to the post, the TNPSC released the recruitment examination results for TNPDCL assistant electrical engineer vacancies on January 23, 2026.

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Annamalai also alleged that several candidates who secured high marks were disqualified during counselling because of the age limit criteria.

Demand for inquiry

Annamalai urged the Tamil Nadu government to conduct a transparent inquiry into the actions of TNPDCL and TNPSC regarding the recruitment process.

He also demanded that the government prevent changes in vacancies or recruitment rules after the examination process begins.

Annamalai cited earlier instances where the Tamil Nadu government had granted special age relaxation to candidates affected by the cancellation of Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) examinations and recruitment delays in the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

“The future of Tamil Nadu’s youth should not be allowed to fall victim to the government’s administrative negligence,” he said.