The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) postponed the civil services preliminary examination to June 16 due to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The examination was originally scheduled to take place on May 26.
"Due to the schedule of the impending general election, the commission has decided to postpone the civil services (preliminary) examination-2024 which also serves as a screening test for the Indian Forest Service examination, 2024, from 26-05-2024 to 16-06-2024," an official statement said.
"To be eligible for the exam, a candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2024 i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than August 2, 1992 and not later than August 1, 2003," the Commission added.
Over 1,000 vacancies to be filled this year
A recent UPSC notification has indicated that around 1,056 vacancies will be filled through this year's examination. The civil services examination, held annually by the UPSC, consists of three stages: preliminary, main, and interview. Its purpose is to select officers for prestigious roles such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
Lok Sabha elections 2024
The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19 and results will be announced on June 4. The other phases will be on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
It should be noted here that media persons on election duty carrying authorisation letters from the Election Commission, and those working in essential services such as healthcare can vote using postal ballots in the Lok Sabha and four state assembly polls, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. In this regard, the Election Commission (EC) wrote to all state chief electoral officers regarding the categories of absentee voters on essential services.
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