Thousands of civil service aspirants who will be taking the Union Public Service Commission’s preliminary test on Sunday may face severe inconvenience in Hyderabad because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city. While elaborate arrangements have been made for the successful conducting of the examination, several traffic restrictions are in place that may make plans go awry.
Over 11.36 lakh aspirants, the highest till date, are scheduled to appear for the exam countrywide on Sunday. Out of these, a total of 48,901 candidates are set to appear for the UPSC preliminary exam in Hyderabad. a total of 100 examination centres have been established in Hyderabad. Even though the PM is set to address a meeting in the city only at 5 pm, traffic restrictions will be in place before that. The examination will be held in two sessions: from 9.30 am to 11.30 am; and from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
There are eight examination centres located within a half kilometre radius of the LB Stadium where PM Modi will address Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) workers at 5 pm. The eight exam centres around LB Stadium include,
- Government Mahabubia Girls Junior College (adjacent to L B Stadium);
- Rosary Convent High School, Gun Foundry;
- George Boy’s Junior College, near Taj Mahal Hotel, Abids;
- Little Flower high School;
- Diamond Jubilee high school, Chirag Ali Lane;
- Kamala Nehru Polytechnic for Women, Exhibition Grounds, Nampally;
- Indira Priya Darshini Government Degree College for Women;
- NAM Government Model Junior College for Girls, Nampally.
Police officials have advised the UPSC aspirants to reach the examination centre an hour or two before the examination to avoid last minute delays. As per UPSC directions, candidates will be allowed enter the examination hall at 9.10 am and 2.10 pm. The Assistant Coordinating Officer, UPSC exams and Hyderabad Additional Joint Collector (in-charge), V Ashok has advised students to not be late for the exam.
This year, a lot of repeaters are expected to take the UPSC exam since the government has increased the total number of attempts to six, an increase of two, and increased the upper age limit to 32.