New Year began on a promising note for aspirants of Group 1 services, but their hopes quickly were dashed as the Mains examinations were put off for the third consecutive time after the new government took over the reins in May 2019.
The High Court’s order asking the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPPSC) to explore the possibility of conducting the examination again has created uncertainty among the candidates who had qualified for the mains. Many candidates, who are keen to give a shot at the UPSC Civil Services examination are in a Catch 22 situation as they are not sure if the mains would be held any time soon.
The preliminary examinations of Group 1 were supposed to be held in March last, but were held on May 26, and the mains was supposed to be held during June 10-22, but this was too deferred. Soon after the results of the preliminary examination were declared in November last, the APPSC announced a new schedule from December 2, but the mains were postponed again to February 2020.
HC order
The High Court in its order on January 28, stayed the conduct of the mains and asked the government to explore the possibility of conducting the examination all over again as they were many errors in the question paper.
“More than 80% of 8,351 candidates, who have qualified in the preliminary examinations, will be appearing for the UPSC Civil services preliminary examination to be held on May 31. There is lot of difference on how a candidates prepare for prelims which is objective and the mains which is written and subjective. We urge the APPSC to hold the mains as early as possible so that we get at least two months’ time for preparation of the civil services prelims, ’’ said a Group 1 aspirant.