UPSC announces dates to conduct personal interviews for remaining candidates; check details

Every year, the UPSC conducts civil services examination in three stages—preliminary, main and interview or personality test–to pick candidates for IAS, IFS and IPS, among others.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has decided to hold the personality tests for the remaining candidates of the Civil Services Examination, 2019 (CSE-2019) from July 20 to July 30, the commission said in an official order on Monday.

“All the candidates have been informed in advance,” the commission said.

The UPSC has selected 2,304 candidates for Personality Tests (PTs)/Interviews from the Civil Services Examination, 2019. And the Commission was conducting interviews when the government announced a nationwide outbreak in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, in order to contain the spread of the virus. After reviewing the situation, the UPSC had also postponed the PTs/interviews for the remaining 623 candidates.

“With the gradual lifting of the lockdown, the Commission has decided to hold the PTs for the remaining candidates from 20th to 30th of July 2020 and all the candidates have been suitably informed in advance, the UPSC said.

The Commission said it has made suitable arrangement to take care of the safety and health concerns of the candidates, expert advisers and employees of the Commission.

The commission has made arrangements to give each candidate a ‘Sealed Kit’ consisting of a face mask, face shield, a bottle of sanitizer and hand gloves at the time of interview. It has also taken all necessary precautionary and safety measures for contactless PTs in order to shield the interviewers and the interviewees appropriately.

According to the release, the UPSC will also reimburse airfare, both to and fro, of the candidates attending the PTs/interviews, as train services are not fully functional; though it’s a “one-time measure”, looking at the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country.

The release further said the commission has already informed state governments and Union Territories (UTs) regarding this and requested for allowing the candidates holding letters for interviews to move in/out of the restricted zones in order to attend the interview. In fact, the UPSC is also helping the candidates with their lodging and transport requirements.

On July 15, the Ministry of Personnel allowed civil services aspirants to get their medical tests done at designated hospitals in their states and union territories (UTs), in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Every year, the Commission conducts civil services examination in three stages—preliminary, main and interview or personality test – to pick candidates for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.