The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) submitted before the Supreme Court on Monday that it is impossible to defer the civil services exams any further as all logistical arrangements have already been made.
A 3-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar asked the Commission to file an affidavit stating its stand by tomorrow and posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.
The UPSC civil services examination 2020 is scheduled for October 4. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by a group of UPSC aspirants seeking postponement of the upcoming Civil Services (prelims) Exam 2020. The petition has sought postponement of the exam for two to three months in view of the flood, incessant rains in several parts of the country.
During the hearing, advocate Naresh Kaushik (appearing for the UPSC) submitted before the bench that it’s impossible to postpone the exam.
“The matter was considered and deferment was done, but it was realised that deferment would completely hurt the process of the exam. It was supposed to be held on September 30. Thereafter, it was deferred to October 4. Deferment would nullify the objective of conducting the exam for four arms of government,” Kaushik argued.
The plea, filed by a group of 20 UPSC aspirants through advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, submitted that this seven-hour long offline exam will be taken by approximately six lakh aspirants at test centres in 72 cities across India is likely to become a big source of further spread of the Covid.
“The revised calendar for UPSC exams suffers from class-based discrimination and violates Article 14 of the Constitution, inasmuch as students belonging to the middle class and/or lower middle class will not be able to afford transport, accommodation, or other expenses to take the examination amid a pandemic,” the plea said seeking quashing of the revised calendar. Furthermore, it said that the calendar violates Article 16 of the Constitution as it deprives many of the aspirants of equal opportunity in public employment.
Special trains for civil services candidates
Ahead of the exam, Railways ministry announced that it will run special trains to facilitate students. These trains would operate within the jurisdiction of the East Coast Railway and touch different cities across Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
UPSC vacancies:
UPSC has invited online applications for recruitment against 42 vacancies from eligible candidates holding an engineering or MBBS degree in required disciplines. The posts include assistant engineer (quality assurance), foreman (computer science engineering), senior scientific assistant in computer, electrical and mechanical engineering, special grade III assistant professor in clinical haematology, immuno- haematology and blood transfusion, medical oncology and neonatology.
The online application process has begun and the last date to apply is October 15. Aspirants can apply online at upsc.gov.in or upsconline.nic.in.
