Elaborate arrangements have been made for smooth conduct of the Civil Services (preliminary) examinations 2020, being conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The examination will be held on October 4 (Sunday).
In a statement on Friday, Principal Secretary to the government (political), Praveen Prakash, said the examinations would be conducted in morning (9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.) and afternoon (2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.) sessions in 68 venues of four cities -- Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, and Anantapur. The respective District Collectors would be the coordinating supervisors for the examination. As many as 30,199 candidates would appear for the examination, he said. Frisking of the candidates at the exam centres would be done away with this year to avoid physical contact in view of the COVID-19 protocol of physical distancing. The candidates should reach the exam centre well before the commencement of the exam and entry gates would be closed 10 minutes before the scheduled commencement time.
Besides sanitising the centres and the entire premises a day before the exam, adequate stocks of hand sanitisers, face masks and gloves would be made available at the test centres. Care was being taken to ensure strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines, he said, adding that the Collectors were told to make sure that the centres would have uninterrupted power supply during the exam time.
