The number of civil services personnel recruited by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has declined in the past four years and reached its lowest of 2,352 in 2018-19, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

A total of 3,750 candidates were recommended by the UPSC in 2015-16, 3,020 in 2016-17, 3,083 in 2017-18 and 2,352 in 2018-19, according to the data given by Singh in a written reply to the Upper House.

As many as 3,750 vacancies were reported by the government for recruitment in 2015-16, 3,184 in 2016-17, 2,706 in 2017-18 and 2,353 in 2018-19, it said.

The UPSC conducts various examinations in accordance with the rules of examination notified by the nodal ministries or departments annually and recommends candidates keeping in view the number of vacancies intimated by the indenting ministries or departments, Singh said.