Government to hire 980 officers through civil services exams, lowest in 5 years

New Delhi: The government will hire 980 officers to fill up vacancies in the prestigious IAS, IFS and IPS through civil services exam 2017, the lowest in the past five years.

A total of 1,079 and 1,164 vacancies were reported to be filled through the civil services examinations 2016 and 2015, respectively. The results of last year's test are yet to be declared.

1,364 and 1,228 such vacancies were reported for the recruitments to be done through the 2014 and 2013 tests, respectively.

A total of 1,091 posts in various central services were advertised for civil services exam, 2012, as per the notification by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the examination annually.

The government had sought to fill 880 posts in various services through civil services exam, 2011.

The number of vacancies to be filled on the result of civil services examination 2017 is expected to be approximately 980 which include 27 vacancies reserved for those in physically handicapped category, it said.

The vacancies for this year's test are lowest advertised in the past five years by the government.

"The final number of vacancies may undergo change after getting firm number of vacancies from cadre controlling authorities. Reservation will be made for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Physically Disabled categories in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the government," the UPSC notification said.

Thousands of aspirants appear in the civil services examination conducted annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

This time, the civil services preliminary examination 2017 has been preponed and it is scheduled to be held on June 18, instead of August.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will be conducting the examination in June after a gap of three years.

The preliminary tests for 2016, 2015 and 2014 were held during the month of August, a senior UPSC official said.

The last date for receiving the applications for the preliminary test is March 17.