UPSC prelims 2020 postponed: Here is when the new date will be announced

UPSC prelims 2020: The Union Public Service Commission has decided to postpone the civil services preliminary exam “until further notice”, as the entire country remains to be under a lockdown till March 17, at least. This is the third phase of lockdown in India. The UPSC exam was scheduled to be held on May 31 but a new date will now be announced after the assessment of situation on May 20. 

A meeting of the Commission, chaired by Arvind Saxena, was held on Monday to take the call to defer the exam with senior UPSC officials. The decision comes after the Central government extended the lockdown for two weeks starting May 4. The commission believes that it is not feasible to organise the examination right now and a fresh call on the date will be taken. 

A major challenge for the organisers is that several schools in the country have been turned into quarantine centres which makes them unavailable for hosting exams. The students also have limited time to book tickets to reach the centres.

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The Commission was due to release admit cards for the students this week, but has decided to defer the process in view current crisis.

Nearly 10 lakh people register for the civil services preliminary examination every year. Nearly 1.6 lakh functionaries participate in conducting the exam across 2,500 centres. Many other premier exams, such as the Haryana Civil Services, which was slated to be held from June 5, have also been postponed.

What happens after you clear UPSC exam?

Once the candidates clear the UPSC exam, they need to undergo training in order to become a civil servant in India. This training is provided by Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Lbsnaa.