UPSC to conduct Civil Services examination on October 4; important guidelines you need to know

File Photo (IANS)

New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is all set to conduct the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020, across the country on October 4, 2020. The exams that were scheduled for May 31 were deferred due to the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19.

As per reports, more than 10 lakh candidates have applied for the Civil Services Examination 2020 which will be held at 2,569 centres in different cities.

Candidates who are appearing for the exam need to adhere to the following important guidelines:

- It is mandatory for all the candidates taking the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination to wear a mask or face cover. 

- No student will be allowed to take up the exam without a face mask.

- Candidates can carry sanitizers to the exam hall, the condition being that it should be in a transparent bottle.

- Social distancing has to be followed in the campus along with the examination hall and rooms. 

- Each examination centre will accommodate at one-third of its capacity.

- To get entry, candidates need to bring their photo ID cards, whose number is given on their e-admit cards.

- The examination will be conducted in two shifts, first will be held from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, while the second shift will take place between 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

- The entry to the examination centre will be closed 10 minutes prior to the exam, ie, 9:20 am for the morning shift and 2:20 pm for the afternoon shift.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced that they will start their operations at 6 am on October 4 to facilitate the students for the UPSC examination.

Public Service Announcement

To facilitate students for the UPSC examinations, Delhi Metro services will begin at 6 AM from terminal stations of all lines on 4th October. — Delhi Metro Rail Corporation I कृपया मास्क पहनें (@OfficialDMRC) October 3, 2020

The DMRC is not the only one to provide these facilities to UPSC candidates as the South Western Railway (SWR) also operated a special train from Hubballi, in northwest Karnataka, to Bengaluru on Saturday to enable candidates appearing for the Civil Services Exams.

*Attention*#UPSC #Examination special #train from #Hubballi to #Yesvantpur.
Train No 07391/07392 Hubballi-Yesvantpur-Hubballi will be run by @SWRRLY for convenience of UPSC aspirants on Oct 3 from Hubballi end and on Oct 4 from Yesvantpur end.#India #IndianRailways #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/zsU5QxQAHN — South Western Railway (@SWRRLY) October 2, 2020

The South Central Railway (SCR) zone has also operated special trains in Andhra Pradesh between Kadapa and Anantapur and Kurnool and Anantapur to help UPSC aspirants reach their examination centres easily.

SCR to run UPSC Exam #specialtrains between Kurnool City - Anantapur to facilitate movement of candidates appearing for #UPSC Exam @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/Bl234UHwMY — South Central Railway (@SCRailwayIndia) October 2, 2020

Earlier on September 30, the Apex Court had declined to postpone the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination due to COVID-19 pandemic and floods in several parts of the country. The top court also refused to consider the plea for clubbing of this year's exam with that of 2021 saying "this will have a cascading effect".

It may be noted that the Indian Civil Service Exam (UPSC IAS exam / UPSC Civil services) is conducted in three stages:

1. Civil Services Exam (Preliminary)  – Objective Type

2. Civil Services Exam (Main) – Descriptive Type

3. Personality Test / Interview

The process of the UPSC civil services examination begins from the notification of the preliminary examination to the declaration of the final results that takes roughly a year. The selected candidates are recruited and trained for various Central government services and then allotted different state cadres, as per their preference and ranking.

For UPSC Civil Services Exam 2020, the notification was published on February 12, 2020.