The civil services preliminary examination 2020, postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be held on October 4, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced on Friday. It also said the personality test of the candidates selected through the last year’s civil services preliminary and mains will resume from July 20.
This year’s preliminary test was earlier scheduled to be held on May 31, but was deferred due to the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The civil services examination is held annually in three stages – prelims, mains and interview — by the UPSC to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
Lakhs of aspirants take the examination every year to be part of the country’s coveted civil services.