Pune: The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has officially announced that the Maharashtra Civil Services Gazetted Combined Preliminary Examination 2024 will now be held on December 1, 2024.
This rescheduled date comes after the initial postponement of the exam, which was originally planned for August 25, 2024.
The rescheduling was necessitated due to the clash with another significant exam conducted by IBPS, sparking protests from aspirants demanding the inclusion of 258 posts from the Agricultural Services.
The protests, which took place in Pune, gained political attention, prompting the state government to intervene. They requested the MPSC to delay the examination to accommodate the addition of these Agricultural Services posts.
Following consultations and discussions, MPSC has now confirmed the revised examination date and has decided to include these posts in the upcoming exam.
Earlier, on December 29, 2023, MPSC had advertised 274 vacancies across various government departments. However, a revised notification was issued on May 8, 2024, updating the total number of vacancies to 524.
This revised figure also accounted for positions reserved for socially and educationally backward classes. Subsequently, on August 16, the Agriculture Department submitted a formal request to MPSC for the inclusion of 258 additional positions under the Maharashtra Agricultural Services.
Acting on this request, MPSC held a meeting on September 23, 2024, and approved the inclusion of these posts in the upcoming Maharashtra Civil Services Gazetted Combined Preliminary Examination 2024.
MPSC has stated that detailed information regarding the Agricultural Services positions, including the necessary educational qualifications, will soon be made available on its official website. Once this is done, candidates will be given a 21-day window to submit their applications.
The decision to hold the examination on December 1 was made after considering several factors, including the time required for printing the question papers and answer sheets, the schedule of other recruitment exams in October, the upcoming assembly elections, and the associated code of conduct.