The civil services preliminary examination, scheduled to be held on May 31, has been deferred due to the Covid-19-driven lockdown and the new date for the test will be decided later this month, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has said.

The civil services examination is held annually in three stages (prelims, main and interview) by the commission to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

Lakhs of aspirants take the examination every year to be part of the coveted civil services.

As many as 796 vacancies were announced by the commission to be filled through the civil services examination 2020.

A decision regarding deferring of the preliminary examination was taken during a meeting held by the UPSC on Monday to review the situation after the second phase of the nation-wide lockdown.

Taking notice of the extension of restrictions, the commission decided that it will not be possible to resume examinations and interview, the UPSC said in a communiqué.

The civil services (preliminary) examination 2020, scheduled to be held on May 31, therefore, stands deferred, it said.

Since this examination also serves as the screening test for the Indian Forest Service examination, the schedule for the Indian Forest Service examination is also deferred, the communiqué said.

The commission said that the situation will be reviewed again on May 20 and fresh dates for these examinations will be notified on the UPSC website in due course.

When the dates are decided for the deferred tests/examinations, it will be ensured that candidates are given a notice of at least 30 days, the UPSC said.

The commission has already deferred the personality test for remaining candidates for the civil services examination, 2019; notification for the Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service examination, 2020; notification for the Combined Medical Services examination, 2020; notification for the Central Armed Police Forces examination, 2020, and the NDA and Naval Academy examination, 2020, it said.