The Civil Services Exam scheduled on October 4th cannot be postponed over the coronavirus crisis, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) told the Supreme Court today. The top court was hearing a request seeking the postponement of Civil Services Exam. The Court today asked the UPSC – the Central Recruiting Agency for appointments to and exams for various Civil Services of the government – to file its affidavit and will hear the case again on October 23rd.
The exam, which was earlier scheduled on May 31st, was rescheduled to October 4th due to the pandemic.
20 civil services aspirants had approached the Supreme Court, seeking for the crucial exam to be deferred by two to three months due to the flood situation in several parts of the country as well as COVID-19. The aspirants said that the civil services exam, being a recruitment examination, is completely different from an academic examination and in the event of its postponement, there would not be any question of delay or loss of any academic session.
The petitioners said holding the exams at a such a time “is nothing else but putting lives of lakhs of young students (including petitioners herein) at utmost risk and danger of disease and death”.
One of the petitioners, the father of a candidate, told the court that his son is an officer with the government and that due to heavy work load because of COVID-19, he was unable to take leave and prepare for the exam, whereas the others managed to stay home and prepare well.
Several other important exams, including the NEET medical entrance exam and the JEE for admission to the IITs, which too were postponed due to COVID-19, have already been held.
