In a pleasant moment of surprise for UPSC aspirants who had unfortunately exhausted their last attempt due to the Coronavirus pandemic last year, the Central Government has decided to give an extra chance to the aspiring candidates. The center told the Supreme court today that the candidates will be allowed to appear for the examination provided they are within the eligible age limit.
“This relaxation for the candidates… shall be a one-time relaxation only and shall apply only for appearing in CSE-2021 and shall not be treated as a precedent,” the center said in a note to the Supreme Court today.
Rachna Singh, who has been preparing for one of the most competitive exams in the country conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking one more chance to attempt the test. Ms Singh claimed the disruption caused by the pandemic left many civil service aspirants unable to prepare well.
The civil services preliminary exam scheduled on May 31 last year was eventually held on October 4. Initially, the UPSC exam was scheduled in May but had to postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the data shared by the government, as many as 4,86,952 candidates had appeared for the exam on 4 October.
Meanwhile, the main exam of Civil Services 2020 is over. The exam was held from 8 to 17 January. More than 10,000 candidates were shortlisted for the main exam on the basis of the marks obtained in the prelims exam. The notification of Civil Services exam 2021 is scheduled to be released on 10 February.
CONDITIONS LAID DOWN BY THE CENTER
- Relaxation, only to the extent of providing one extra attempt for Civil Service Examination (CSE), specifically limited to CSE-2021, may be granted to only those candidates who appeared for CSE-2020 as their last permissible attempt and are otherwise not age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021.
- No relaxation shall be granted for CSE-2021 to those candidates who have not exhausted their permissible number of attempts or to those candidates who are otherwise age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021 as per the prescribed age limits of different categories, or to any other candidate for any other reason whatsoever.
- This relaxation for the candidates and to the extent as prescribed above, shall be a one-time relaxation only and shall apply only for appearing in CSE-2021 and shall not be treated as a precedent.
- The relaxation provided at Point 1, shall not create any vested right whatsoever or any other purported right on the ground of parity or otherwise.
