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Delhi

UPSC prelims conducted amid pandemic

new delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Preliminary exam was held on Sunday in the Capital amid widespread protests from candidates to postpone or cancel this year's exam due to the prevailing pandemic and its resulting travel restrictions. The UPSC Prelims are conventionally held in May or June but were delayed this year due to the pandemic and the rising count of COVID-19 cases in the country, and were finally held on October 4.

For 29-year-old Mehrauli resident Lucky Lawrence, who wrote his 6th attempt at the Gurgaon Sector-56 test center this time, the delay was a bonus. "I got an additional four months of preparation time. Since I did not opt for coaching and was preparing on my own, I had all my study material with me. As this was my last attempt, I was only focussed on studying and did not leave my house, even before the lockdown".

"Everything was well organised, people were sitting at a reasonable distance, social distancing was maintained by staff, and my exam went smoothly. I feel that the exam had to happen sooner or later in any case," he said.

For 23-year-old Pranjuli Agarwal, who appeared for the exam at the Delhi Cantt test center, the experience was a bit different.

"No special safety precautions were taken as such, we had to take our own precautions. Personally, I was pretty exhausted with the prelims getting postponed and just wanted to be done with the exam. But yes, in the interest of public safety, it should have been postponed."

She added that sanitisation at her test centre was not taken care of and that there were chalk markings all over her desk. She said it made her feel like the desks and chairs would also not have been cleaned or sanitised.

The UPSC had made provisions for candidates who had to travel back to their hometowns during the lockdown by giving them the chance to change their test centers. However, this resulted in logistical challenges for several candidates. A Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh) resident who was preparing for the prelims in Delhi and was set to appear for his 3rd attempt, chose not to do so because the lockdown interfered with his preparations.

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