More than 60% participation in UPSC Civil Services Prelims in 17 centers of Visakhapatnam

Candidates leave the examination center after appearing for the UPSC-2026 civil services preliminary examination in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. | Photo credit: V. Raju

More than 60% participation was recorded in the Civil Services Preliminary Test-2026 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) at 17 centers in Visakhapatnam on Sunday (May 24, 2026).

A total of 7,763 applicants applied for the exam, which took place in two sections, Paper I from 9:30 to 11:30 and Paper II from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

According to the official attendance figures, 4,755 candidates attended the morning session while 3,008 remained absent, giving a participation percentage of 61.25%. In the afternoon session, 4,696 candidates appeared and 3,067 were absent, the participation was recorded at 60.49%.

District Collector M. Abhishikth Kishore and Joint Collector G. Vidyadhari visited examination centers at Government Colleges Dr. VS Krishna and at the Gayatri Vidya Parishad Colleges and reviewed the conduct of the examination and arrangements made for the candidates.

Ram Babu, an orthopedically challenged civil services aspirant, leaves the examination center after writing the UPSC-2026 civil services preliminary examination in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. | Photo credit: V. Raju

District Revenue Officer M. Visweswara Naidu functioned as coordinating supervisor and custodian of confidential materials for the investigation. Commissioner of Police Shankabrata Bagchi oversaw the security measures across the centers while Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner Ketan Garg coordinated civic and sanitary measures.

Mudavatu M. Nayak, Secretary to Government, Social Welfare Department, served as State Government Observer, while Joint Collector G. Vidyadhari acted as Visakhapatnam Observer. Sourabh Singh, Section Director, UPSC, New Delhi, was deputed as the Inspecting Officer to supervise the conduct of the examination.

Among the centres, Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering at Kommadi recorded one of the highest attendances, where out of 576 registered candidates, 381 candidates appeared in the morning session and 378 in the afternoon session.

Officials said the examination ended peacefully without any unusual incident being reported from any of the centers.

Published – 24 May 2026 18:52 IST