The Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2021 will be conducted as per schedule from Friday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said on Wednesday.
The UPSC has asked the state governments to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the candidates and examination functionaries in their movement.
The states have been told that if necessary, the e-admit cards of the candidates and the identity cards of the examination functionaries are to be used as movement passes, the UPSC said.
"After carefully reviewing the situation prevailing due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has decided to conduct the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2021 as per schedule i.e. on 7th, 8th, 9th, 15th and 16th January, 2022," it said in a statement.
The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, among others.