Nearly 50 percent of the candidates opted out of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examination 2020 for selection to Indian Administrative and Allied Services in Lucknow.
The exam was conducted on Sunday.
According to sources, as many as 43,921 candidates were registered for the examination at various centers in the city. About 21,790 (49.6 percent) registered candidates appeared in the first shift for the “general studies” paper.
The number dropped further to 21,607 (49.2 percent) in the second shift for “optional subject”.
This was a sharp drop as compared to the 15-20 percent average dropout seen in previous years.
The majority of the students, who had dropped out of the examination, cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the main reason for the high number of absentees.
The candidates said that apart from the fear of catching an infection, many of them could not prepare for the test because of restrictions on coaching classes, group studies, library sessions, and mentorship programs in the past six months.
“Besides lack of preparedness, there was a risk of catching Covid-19 infection, which made many of my batchmates skip the examination,” said Niharika Rastogi, a candidate.
