The decision was approved by the Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday and is expected to significantly shape recruitment patterns in government jobs. (File) Maharashtra has tightened its recruitment rules for reserved category candidates, deciding that those who avail government relaxations in age, educational qualification, experience or number of attempts during competitive examinations will no longer be eligible to claim selection under the open category. The decision was approved by the state cabinet on Thursday and is expected to significantly shape recruitment patterns in government jobs at a time when reservation in Maharashtra has already touched 72%. Under the new policy, candidates from reserved categories who use any relaxation provided by the government except examination fee concessions will be considered only against seats reserved for their respective categories. They will not be allowed to compete for open category posts, even if their final merit score is high enough.…