Unlike other UPSC examinations, the UPSC Combined Geo-scientists Examination, 2020 has not been postponed yet.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced on May 20th 2020 that ‘taking notice of the extension of several restrictions, the commission decided that it will not be
possible to resume examinations and interviews, for the present.’
For the examination scheduled for this year, UPSC has made the following announcements:
- Combined Medical Services Exam-2020, scheduled to be notified on 08.04.2020, stands deferred
- NDA & NA Exam (I)-2020, scheduled to be held on 19.04.2020, stands deferred till further notice.
- Deferment of Personality Tests of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2019 from 23.03.2020 till further order
- IES / ISS Examination-2020, scheduled to be notified on 25/03/2020, has been deferred till further notice.
However, no such announcement has been made for the UPSC Combined Geo-scientist Examination 2020. The preliminary stage of the examination was held on 19th January 2020 and the mains examination is scheduled to be held on 27th and 28th June 2020. However, not announcement has been made regarding the schedule of the mains examination, and as it stands, the examination is still scheduled to be held in June. Therefore, candidates should continue their preparation assuming that the examination will not be postponed.
Now coming to the practical aspects of conducting an examination in the current scenario, we believe that the Geologist’s decision is the most difficult to predict. Unlike IES or Civil Services examinations, for which lacs of students will appear, only a few hundreds will appear in the GSI mains examination. A lot will depend upon how fast the restrictions are lifted (or re-imposed incase of COVID-19 resurgence) in the coming weeks. If the interstate travel becomes accessible to students. The mains exam can still be held on the scheduled date. If the interstate travel still remains restricted after two-three weeks from now, there is a very high chance that the GSI mains exam will be postponed.
Still, the final decision is UPSC’s to make, and at this stage I believe that even they are not sure. That is why they did not make a decision on 20th May and announced that the ‘Revised Programme of Examinations/RTs-2020 [ including the date of the Civil Services (Prel.) Examination-2020 ] will be uploaded on 05.06.2020 after assessing the situation. It is likely that we will hear about the UPSC GSI mains exam date on the same day.