IAS COVID Guidelines 2021

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the schedule and conduction of the IAS examination. Since hundreds of candidates are allotted a single centre, proper guidelines and protocols aligned with the social distancing measures were to be taken up by the conducting body for smooth functioning of the recruitment process.

It was because of the pandemic that changes in the exam dates for the civil services prelims and mains 2020 and 2021 were made. Generally, almost the same schedule is followed as released in the official calendar. Candidates can check out the tentative dates based on the UPSC Calendar 2021 at the linked article.

In this article, we shall discuss the guidelines and protocols released by the Union Public Service Commission keeping the safety of every candidate in mind and following the norms announced by the Central/State governments. All IAS Exam aspirants who have filled in the form this year must carefully go through the details discussed below.

COVID Protocols for IAS Prelims Exam 2021

For two consecutive years, and the threatening waves of the coronavirus pandemic, the conducting body had to change the exam schedule. Given below are the revised exam dates for the prelims paper:

Also, the official UPSC Calendar 2022 has been released by the Commission. Aspirants looking forward to applying for the upcoming recruitment can check the exam schedule in the linked article.

As for the guidelines and protocols, the following set of instructions were released along with the UPSC Admit Card that was to be followed at the exam venue:

• Wearing a mask or face shield is mandatory at every exam venue. No candidate without a mask would be allowed to enter the examination hall
• Candidates are advised to carry a transparent water bottle along to the examination hall
• A small bottle of hand sanitiser to be carried along to the exam centre
• Carry a black ballpoint pen and ensure that you carry one extra as no sharing of any commodity will be allowed by the invigilators
• Maintain social distancing at all times and do not carry too many things to the venue

To read the other general instructions and information mentioned on the IAS Preliminary Admit Card, aspirants can visit the linked article.

IAS COVID Guidelines for UPSC Mains 2021

Considering the delay in the prelims examination, the UPSC Mains exam dates were also pushed further for the past two recruitments. Given below is the official and revised exam dates for the second phase of the written examination:

The guidelines to be followed at the exam centres shall be the same as applicable for the IAS Prelims exam. However, if any revised set of instructions are released, candidates shall be intimated beforehand.

A major part of the mains exam is descriptive, thus, candidates must ensure that they carry extra pens and stationery, as required as sharing of things, shall not be allowed during the examination. Those who wish to work on their answer writing skills can visit the UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice page.

COVID Guidelines for IAS Personality Test

Since the IAS 2021 interviews are yet to be conducted, given below are the guidelines that were released by the conducting body for 2020 recruitment to be followed by candidates for Personality Test:

• A four day old RT-PCR negative report needs to be mandatorily carried along for the Personality Test
• Candidates have to wear a face mask or face cover for the IAS Interview
• Any candidate with symptoms of cough, cold, fever, sore throat, etc. will not be admitted inside the interview venue
• The highest standards of health safety and precautions will be taken up by the commission and the panel and interviewee shall be provided with a safety kit comprising gloves, sanitiser and face shield

For more details about the recruitment process, candidates can refer to the UPSC FAQ for IAS Exam and get answers to all the questions.

To know more about the civil services exam, visit BYJU’S and get the desired assistance.