Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has postponed the State Service Preliminary Exam 2020 in view of rising Covid-19 cases in the state. The recruitment examination was scheduled to be held on March 14 (Sunday) in two sessions at centres across Maharashtra.

In a notice on Thursday, MPSC said the revised schedule for the State Service Preliminary Exam 2020 will be updated on its website mpsc.gov.in soon. Candidates are advised to keep a track of the updates on the Commission’s portal.

The prelim exams were postponed many times last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 2.5 lakh aspirants have applied for the MPSC 2020 examination. The State Service Exam or the MPSC Rajyaseva Exam is conducted by the commission to recruit Group A and Group B officers in the various administrative branches of the Maharashtra state government. There are a total of 200 vacancies available.

Here’s MPSC State Service Prelim 2020 exam postponement notice.

Coronavirus resurgence in Maharashtra

Maharashtra has been reporting a surge in coronavirus cases recently. On Monday, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope had said that the coronavirus situation in the state was “alarming” and permitted the district administrations to decide on lockdowns.

Following this, authorities in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district had on Tuesday imposed a “Janata curfew” to be implemented between 8 pm on March 11 and 8 am on March 15. Thane district had on Monday announced a lockdown in 16 coronavirus hotspots till the end of the month to combat a surge in infections.