Expert trainers unhappy with age limit of 55 years in recruiting faculty for Administrative Training Institute in Karnataka

Mysuru: Over the years, there has been growing displeasure over the Mysuru-based Administrative Training Institute (ATI) regarding the implementation of Kannada as the administrative language of Karnataka.

At present, a few expert trainers have expressed concern over the upper age limit of 55 years for faculty recruitment at ATI, as mentioned in a notification issued last month. 

They argue that the purpose of the institute is to transfer the wisdom of senior officers to younger generations, and that the new limit defeats this objective.

Purpose of ATI

ATI serves as the apex training institute of the government. It regularly conducts training programmes such as the Foundation Course for Gazetted Probationers of the State Civil Services, Orientation Courses for IAS/IFS Probationers allotted to the Karnataka Cadre, and Refresher Courses for Senior Officers.

Other programmes include Training of Trainers and sessions on Gender Issues, Financial Management, Legal Matters, and Computer Applications. ATI primarily caters to Grade ‘A’ and Grade ‘B’ officers.

J R Paramesha, an expert trainer on drought management, pointed out that the recent notification titled ‘Recruitment on Deputation/Contract Basis for Faculty/Consultant and Other Posts’, issued on October 4, 2025, states under ‘Minimum Qualification’ that “the age of the candidate should not be above 55 years.”

However, a similar notification from 2015, available with DH, titled ‘Expression of Interest for Faculty Posts on Deputation or Consultancy Assignments’ (dated June 10, 2015), had fixed the maximum age limit at 65 years.

Expert opinion

B Yoganath Singh, a master trainer with the Union Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), said: “Appointments for a training institution, like ATI, cannot be made directly. As per policy, they must be on deputation. ATI is not an educational institution in the conventional sense. To maintain the legacy of training, a few core faculty may be retained, but the majority should be on deputation. The best officers should be invited to join ATI so they can groom new entrants to government service and share their experience with in-service officers.”

“The purpose and vision of ATI will be diluted if new faculty members are not properly groomed. I feel the present faculty strength and competencies are not meeting the standards set so far. The government should reconsider this.”

Paramesha reiterated that the core purpose of ATI is to impart the wisdom and experience of senior officers to probationers and serving government staff. Hence, fixing the upper age limit at 55 years, he said, would hinder the very purpose of the institute.

Kannada issue

Regarding the implementation of Kannada, Purushotham Bilimale, chairman of the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), sought clarification on July 7, 2025, following a complaint that ‘Proficiency in Kannada’ was not listed as a qualification for recruiting faculty/consultants at ATI. The complaint had been filed by J R Deviramma of Bengaluru and J R Doreswamy of Channarayapatna.

Earlier, in 2022, the then KDA chairman T S Nagabharana had also raised a similar issue. 

In a letter dated March 2, 2022, based on a complaint by Paramesha, he sought an explanation for the absence of Kannada question papers in the recruitment process for faculty/trainers, both in the written test and in the group discussion rounds.