MPSC exams: Maharashtra govt postpones all exams until further notice due to COVID-19 situation in state

Maharashtra government has decided to postpone all Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exams due to the COVID-19 situation in the state. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced the decision via Twitter on Wednesday. The Maharashtra chief minister wrote that all public service exams will remain postponed “till a further date” which will be revealed in due course of time. “Due to the COVID crisis, all examinations of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) stand postponed till a further date. The revised schedule will be announced in due course”.

Due to the COVID crisis, all examinations of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) stand postponed till a further date. The revised schedule will be announced in due course.

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) August 26, 2020

According to The Indian Express, the MPSC preliminary exams for this year were previously scheduled to be held on 5 April but were later postponed to 13 September. The date had to be pushed back to 20 September as the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) was scheduled to take place on 13 September as well. About 2.5 lakh candidates apply for the MPSC exams every year. The exams are being held to fill 200 posts in various departments. Maharashtra remains the worst affected state in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases in India_._ There are over 7.15 lakh cases and more than 23 thousand deaths in the state. District of Pune sits at the top, closely followed by Mumbai and Thane. Earlier the lockdown had severely affected the study timing and study material availability of the rural aspirants of the MPSC examination . While some had to look for ways of earning money, others had to practice using school textbooks in the absence of libraries.