'Last attempt' candidates who missed UPSC exams due to Covid get another chance

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Candidates who could not take the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam 2020 in their final attempt due to COVID-19 outbreak will be allowed another shot at the test, the Centre told the Supreme Court on February 5.

The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by civil services aspirant Rachna Singh, seeking another chance to for candidates who lost their last attempt to take the preliminary exams held in October 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Supreme Court had told the Centre and the Union Public Service Commission in September to grant another such chance another chance.

The Civil Services Preliminary exams 2020 were held on October 4, 2020. The UPSC CSE prelims were to be held in May 2020 but had to be put off due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Here are the conditions that the Centre has laid down while granting UPSC candidates another chance to sit the exam:

• The relaxation is only for one extra attempt.
• Will be limited to CSE 2021 only.
• Only candidates who appeared for CSE 2020 as their last permissible attempt and are not age-barred from taking the CSE 2021 exams have been granted relaxation.
• The relaxation for CSE 2021 will not be extended to candidates who have exhausted their permissible number of attempts to write the exams or do not come under the prescribed age limits
• This will be a one-time relaxation and shall not be treated as a precedent.
• The relaxation “shall not create any vested right whatsoever or any other purported right on ground of parity or otherwise”.