Raising slogans against the state government, the protesters said thousands of aspirants had crossed the upper age limit while waiting for the notification, which they said had been delayed for years.

Hyderabad: A group of unemployed youth staged a sudden dharna at Indira Park chowrasta in Hyderabad on Monday, August 3, demanding that the Telangana government issue a fresh notification to fill all 19,000 vacant police posts instead of the 7,437 already notified.Raising slogans against the state government, the protesters said thousands of aspirants had crossed the upper age limit while waiting for the notification, which they said had been delayed for years. They demanded that the government immediately raise the maximum age limit for Police Constable posts to 36 years and for Sub-Inspector posts to 38 years, to accommodate candidates who lost eligibility during the wait.The agitators also demanded an immediate reduction in the application fee for police recruitment exams. They warned that the stir would be intensified until the government met their demands in full.The protest comes amid a prolonged standoff between the Unemployed Joint Action Committee and the state government over police recruitment. Aspirants have repeatedly pointed out that against nearly 19,000 vacancies in the police department, the government has so far notified only 7,437 posts, a gap that has fuelled recurring protests across the city in recent months.