Only 37% candidates appear for Civil Services Prelims in city

Ludhiana: Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted the Civil Services Preliminary examination for around 11,976 registered candidates, out of which 4,537 appeared for only the first paper in the morning, while even fewer candidates (4,491) appeared for the second paper in the evening shift in 34 centres in the city (roughly 37% overall). The difficulty level was moderate, which means the cut-off will be higher.
“Overall, the paper was easy for those who had already attempted it earlier. Contrary to what happened last year, the current affairs questions were asked from the period of past two to three years,” commented Parul Anand (27), who has appeared for the UPSC Prelims four times. “In Paper 2, the comprehensive session was different from last year, and had a new format which was a surprise element this year,” she added.
Satya Prakash (27) who appeared for the exam from the national capital, said the UPSC Prelims paper this year had a good focus on Science and Technology. “However, Economics was not easy, and a lot of comprehension made it difficult and time-consuming,” he added.
“Questions based on bookish knowledge were less. The paper had more current affairs questions, and the difficulty level was moderate — neither very easy, nor very difficult,” added Ramandeep Kaur, who came from Moga to appear for the exam.
Nishant, who appeared for the exam for the first time said it was tough for him, and it would have been easier had he put in more time for preparation. Nishant belongs to Amritsar and SCD Government College was his centre. “Questions from Economics, History, and Political Sciences were equally distributed in the first paper. Comprehension section was easy for me,” he added.
UPSC exam coordinating superintendent OP Kapoor said: “There were 34 sector magistrates and 34 centre supervisors on duty in both the morning and evening shifts in each centre. Every centre was supervised by an inspecting officer, who was managing and observing the centre. Three male and two female police officers were there for frisking. Out of 30 visually impaired and handicapped, only 12 appeared for the exam at the Government College for Girls.
Salim Agarwal, ADC Corporation, said: “Two invigilators and one observer in the rank of joint director from UPSC were appointed by the Government from May 31 to June 3, where they visited all the centres.”
Main exam on Sept 20
UPSC held preliminary examination of the Civil Services examination (first stage of the of two step recruitment process, other one is Main examination consisting of written test and interview) for recruitment to the services and posts in Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’, and many others.
The UPSC Main examination will be held on September 20. The UPSC Prelims’ results are expected in July. Last year, the Prelims’ results were declared on July 14. The number of vacancies expected to be filled is approximately 896, according to an official notification from the commission.
The Civil Services Examination consists of two successive stages: Civil Services Preliminary examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main examination (written and interview), and then finally for various services and posts in central government cadres.The UPSC Prelims examination comprises two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.
Both the question papers are of the objective type (multiple choice questions) and each paper is of two hours duration. The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services Prelims examination is a qualifying paper, with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%. The question papers are set both in Hindi and English.