Around 50 percent of candidates were absent for preliminary examinations conducted by the union Public Service Commission (UPSC) at different centres of the city on Sunday.
The examination was held in two sessions at 32 different centres including Maulana Azad College, Government College of Arts and Science, MGM Polytechnic, Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Venutai High School, Deogiri College, MIT, Vivekanand College, S B College, Milind College of Arts, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Baliram Patil High School.
A total of 11,412 candidates registered for the examinations in the city. Of them, 5,586 were present in the first session held between 9.30 am to 11.30 am while 5,572 candidates appeared in the second session conducted from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm, under the monitoring of the revenue department staff. Nearly 50 percent of candidates were absent.
Police employees were frisking each candidate very strictly. Those candidates who were wearing marks were given entry at the centre. The civil services aspirants were asked to use sanitizer before making an entry in the examination hall.
Over 1100 officers and employees of police and other department were pressed into the service of the preliminary test.