New Delhi: With less than two months to go, anxiety is looming large among lakhs of candidates appearing for UPSC’s preliminary exams for civil services due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, which they say has derailed their preparations.
Several candidates are also running online petitions urging the government to postpone the exam, which is scheduled for 31 May.
Taking up the issue on Twitter Friday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted that he has been deluged with queries regarding the schedule of the exam.
“Each year about 9 lakh students appear for the coveted UPSC exams to join the prestigious civil services. But so far no aspirant has a clue whether the Preliminary exam will go ahead as scheduled on May 31st or be postponed. @DrJitendraSingh please clarify, am deluged w/queries!” he tweeted.
Each year about 9 lakh students appear for the coveted UPSC exams to join the prestigious civil services. But so far no aspirant has a clue whether the Preliminary exam will go ahead as scheduled on May 31st or be postponed. @DrJitendraSingh please clarify, am deluged w/queries!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 10, 2020
“This is a very crucial time for candidates,” said Prithvi, a civil service aspirant from Hyderabad.
“It is in the last two-three months that candidates take tests at coaching centres and do the final preparation…The lockdown has been a jolt because of which candidates have been unable to do anything,” he added.
However, the UPSC is yet to take a call on the issue.
“It is still too early to decide on postponement,” a senior UPSC official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity. “Right now, the commission is working with the bare minimum strength…The officials even go to the office on rotation, so there is no decision on postponement of the exam.”
According to a DoPT official, once the lockdown is lifted, the commission will be in a better position to gauge the situation.
“The exam will be postponed if there is a need, but right now with more than a month to go for the exam, it is still too early to say if that kind of a need will arise…The government will keep candidates in the loop,” he said.
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Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown hampered preparation
Meanwhile, several candidates are running online petitions to urge the government to postpone the exam.
According to these aspirants, a number of candidates enrolled in coaching classes and hostels to prepare for these exams, however, due to the lockdown, several of them had to return home due to the lockdown. This severely hampered their preparation.
One of the petitions on Change.org says, “We, the aspirants, support our government and its efforts in tackling this pandemic. However, adequate attention must be paid to our issues as well.”
“UPSC Prelims requires dedicated preparation of 3-4 months and looming uncertainty over extension of lockdown is hampering our preparation,” it states.
“Anxiety and stress is preventing us from performing at our best. We feel our health is at risk if we are made to write exams during this pandemic,” the petition adds.
Over 9 lakh candidates prepare for the UPSC Civil Services Exam, which selects officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), India Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS) for the country every year.
Approximately, 700-800 candidates get selected for the 20-plus civil services eventually.
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