A proposal to allow candidates who appeared in the UPSC IAS 2020 Prelims exam held on December 08, 2020, is underway from the government and UPSC. Reportedly, due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Supreme Court is hearing a plea from the Government to restage the exam in order to allow candidates a fair chance. If the petition is approved by the SC, candidates who appeared in the exam or failed to do so due to lockdown and related restrictions are to be allowed a second attempt at the examination.
Major media houses reported that the central government has appealed to the Supreme Court to give a second chance to candidates who registered for the Civil Service 2020 Prelims exam held in October 2020. The proposal has been submitted in light of the fact that the preparations for the exam were severely jeopardized due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic affecting the country in 2020.
Reportedly, a panel of 59 UPSC Civil Service Recruitment 2020 Prelims aspirants have filed a plea before the Supreme court to allow an extra attempt at the exam as a one time measure this year. The plea has been submitted in light of the lockdown situation in India which affected the entire country. Many of the coaching centres were closed and the availability of study materials was also restricted. In addition, as a result of the socio-economic restrictions, many of the registered applicants were unable to attend the exam.
As per major media banners, the Department of Personnel and Training intimated the Supreme Court that the Central Government is considering the circumstances to allow such applicants to have another re-attempt at the examination.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court refused to allow the UPSC to postpone the IAS prelims exam in September 2020. However, it hinted at considering the circumstances to allow candidates a second chance to attempt the exam considering the prevailing situations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed been a major constraint in conducting the national level Civil Services exam in a justified manner this year. Due to the lockdown situation, candidates were not able to appear in the exam or were deprived of adequate academic support to prepare for the exam.
The UPSC imposes certain limitations of the age of the applicants of Civil Services recruitment. As such, many of the applicants are also likely to have missed the chance to attempt the exam for the last time in their lifetime due to age limitations. The Supreme Courts’s order read that “if such candidates are unable to appear in the examination due to COVID-19 pandemic situation, it would cause great prejudice to them“.
The UPSC has already announced the dates of the IAS 2020 Main stage exam after the Prelims are over. However, the decision is being considered in the greater good of the the aspirants who must have a fair chance in attempting one of the elite recruitment examinations in India.
