Union Public Service Commission has asked the candidates appearing for the prelims who opted for Imphal as a centre in Manipur to select other venues. The option of a change of centre for candidates who chose Imphal will be available on the website of the UPSC from April 8 to April 19, the commission said.
The decision was taken amid the continuous violence in the Northeastern state.
The candidates can send their centre change representations at e-mail id: uscsp-upsc@nic.in. The candidates may also submit their request by calling the toll-free helpline number (1800118711) on all working days from April 8 to 19 between 10 am and 5 pm, it further added.
"On receipt of centre change options from the willing candidates through any of the above modes, they will be allocated to the venues of their chosen centres and accordingly, a message confirming the change of centres shall be sent to each such candidate on his/her registered mobile number," it added.
The e-admit cards to these candidates will be available for downloading from the UPSC's website along with other eligible candidates of the civil services preliminary examination, 2024, around a week before the date of examination, the UPSC added.
The civil services examination is conducted annually by the UPSC in three stages - preliminary, main, and interview to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
The civil services preliminary examination, 2024, is scheduled to be held on June 16.
In a statement, the UPSC said it has decided that candidates who have opted for the Imphal centre, "can choose any of the 80 notified centres of the said examination". The move comes following a directive from the Delhi High Court in this regard on a petition filed by the Zomi Students Federation.
At least 219 people have been killed in ethnic strife in Manipur since May last year. The violence erupted on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.