ECGC PO Eligibility 2025-26: Age Limit, Qualification and Relaxation

ECGC PO eligibility for the 2025-26 cycle is simple on education and strict on dates. Generalist candidates need a graduation in any discipline and an age of 21 to 30 years as on 1 November 2025. The Rajbhasha stream asks for a specific Master's degree. This page explains every condition in plain language.

The rules below come from ECGC Ltd.'s detailed advertisement for the cycle. A new notification can change them, so use this page to understand the pattern of rules and confirm the current ones on the official website before you apply.

Table of Contents

• ECGC PO eligibility

• Educational qualification

• Age limit and relaxation

• Nationality and other conditions

• Who is not eligible

• Fee and documents

ECGC PO eligibility at a glance

Educational qualification

Probationary Officer (Generalist)

You need a Bachelor's degree or graduation in any discipline from a university recognised by the Government of India, or an equivalent qualification recognised by the Central Government. You must hold a valid mark-sheet or degree certificate showing that you are a graduate on the day you register, and you must enter your graduation percentage in the online form.

Probationary Officer (Specialist, Rajbhasha)

The specialist post asks for a Master's degree that meets one of four combinations, each from a recognised university: a Master's in Hindi or Hindi translation with English as a core, elective or major subject at Bachelor's level; a Master's in English with Hindi at that level; a Master's in any discipline with English and Hindi as core, elective or major subjects at Bachelor's level; or Master's degrees in both English and Hindi or Hindi translation. The minimum is 60% marks, or 55% for SC and ST candidates.

Result date, percentage and CGPA

• Result deadline: your final result must have been declared on or before 1 November 2025. The date on the mark-sheet or provisional certificate counts as the date of passing.

• Percentage: enter the percentage to two decimals. It is total marks across all subjects and all years or semesters divided by the maximum marks, multiplied by 100.

• No rounding up: the fraction is ignored, so 59.99% is treated as less than 60%.

• CGPA or OGPA: convert it to a percentage as per your university's rule, and be ready to produce a certificate that states the conversion norm.

Age limit and relaxation

The age limit for Probationary Officers is a minimum of 21 years and a maximum of 30 years as on 1 November 2025. The maximum age applies to General and EWS candidates. Relaxation in the upper limit is given as follows.

Persons with benchmark disabilities get 13 years where the vacancy is reserved for OBC, and 15 years where it is reserved for SC or ST. SC, ST and OBC relaxation can be combined with only one of the other relaxations, not with several. The advertisement also states that there is no reservation for ex-servicemen in the officers' cadre.

Candidates in a reserved category who apply against unreserved vacancies do not get age relaxation. A relaxation claim needs a certificate from a competent authority in the prescribed format, produced in original at the interview.

Nationality and other conditions

A candidate must be one of the following, and those in the last three groups need a certificate of eligibility issued by the Government of India.

• A citizen of India.

• A subject of Nepal or Bhutan.

• A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1 January 1962 to settle permanently.

• A person of Indian origin who migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka or specified East African countries, Ethiopia or Vietnam to settle permanently in India.

Other conditions follow from the advertisement:

• Category cannot be changed: no change of category is allowed after registration, and the result is processed on the category you indicated.

• OBC creamy layer: OBC candidates in the creamy layer must apply as General, and need a valid non-creamy layer certificate to claim OBC benefits.

• EWS certificate: EWS candidates need an Income and Asset Certificate valid for the financial year 2025-26.

• PwBD: you need a benchmark disability of at least 40% as certified by the competent authority, and reservation is horizontal within the vacancies.

• Posting: officers can be posted to any office of ECGC across India.

Who is not eligible

• Final-year students without a declared result by the cut-off date, even if the result is announced a little later.

• Candidates outside the age window, including those who are even a day outside the date-of-birth range after relaxation.

• Candidates with a degree from an unrecognised university.

• Candidates who cannot produce the right certificate for the category they claimed. If it is found at any stage that a candidate does not meet the criteria, the candidature is forfeited.

• Applicants who submit wrong information, such as a declaration written by someone else.

Fee and documents

In the 2025-26 cycle the fee was Rs. 175 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates and Rs. 950 for all others, paid online. At the interview, candidates bring originals and photocopies of proof of date of birth, photo identity, mark-sheets from Std X onwards, the graduation certificate with a declared result on or before 1 November 2025, and the relevant category certificates.

Read the official advertisement on ecgc.in before you apply.