Shillong, Jan 19 (IANS): The Meghalaya government on Wednesday extended the upper age limit of government job aspirants from 27 years to 32 years for non-tribals and the upper age limit for the job seekers belonging to the tribals would be 37 years, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said.

The Chief Minister after the cabinet meeting, chaired by him, told the media that the latest relaxation, however, would not be applicable for jobs in certain departments including police, civil defence and home guards.

"In a historic move, the Cabinet has decided to relax the upper age limit for candidates applying for government services by 5 years. This will, however, not be applicable for certain departments like Police which require physical fitness as a criteria," Sangma tweeted.

The Chief Minister said that to focus on the health sector at the village level, the cabinet also approved the policy for Village Health Councils (VHCs).

The VHCs aim to improve community engagement in order to achieve the goals of the State Health Policy adopted last year, he said.

Political circles observed that ahead of the next year's assembly elections, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, led by the National People's Party (NPP), has relaxed the upper age limit for the job seekers to woo the voters.

The Bharatiya Janata Party with two MLAs and several other local parties are the partners of the MDA government headed by Chief Minister Sangma, who is also the President of the NPP.

The elections to the 60-member Meghalaya assembly are due in February-March 2023.