UPSC to conduct Civil services (main) examination from today

Earlier on 5 January, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday announced to conduct the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2021 as per schedule. The examination is slated to be held on January 7, 8, 9, 15, 16.

The UPSC, in a statement, informed that the state governments have further been requested that public transport be made operational to the optimum level, at least on a day before the examination till the date of conduct of the examination from January 6 to January 9 and January 14 to January 16 for ensuring smooth movement of the candidates and examination functionaries.

The states have been told that if necessary, the e-admit cards of the candidates and the identity cards of the examination functionaries are to be used as movement passes, the UPSC said.

The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages — preliminary, main and interview — to select the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, among others.

All the competent district authorities and the venue supervisors have been provided with the guidelines of the commission for the conduct of the exam in these times of pandemic, it added.

The guidelines are mainly related to the personal hygiene of the candidates and examination functionaries, maintenance of social distancing and wearing of masks by them all the time and the provision of hand sanitiser at convenient places in the venues.

The guidelines also ask the examination functionaries and candidates to carry their own sanitiser in transparent bottles.

The guidelines include sanitisation of each venue on a regular basis and two surplus examination rooms for accommodating the candidates who would be coughing, sneezing, complaining of breathlessness, feeling feverish so that they can write the examination under appropriate safety protocols, the statement said.

*With inputs from agencies