Maharashtra civil services exam on May 18

Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) The Maharashtra Public Service Commission examinations will be conducted all over the state May 18, it was announced here Monday.

The examinations, originally scheduled for April 7, were postponed after a virus attack in the MPSC main server led to loss of data of 260,000 candidates, who were to appear.

Following an uproar, the MPSC gave additional time to the candidates to re-submit their data online for the crucial examinations.

Till date, around 38,000 candidates have not yet submitted their details and the MPSC has asked them to comply immediately.

The examinations hit a major snag following a virus attack on the MPSC main server which led to the loss of complete data of nearly 260,000 candidates due to appear for two papers.

As a result, candidates did not get their hall tickets, information on examination centres, seat numbers and other details.

The issue was raised in the Maharashtra legislature where all opposition parties demanded rescheduling of the examinations in view of the technical problems.

For many candidates it was a final do-or-die attempt as they would be rendered age-barred next year if they did not write the examination this year.

Most parties also castigated the MPSC for failure to maintain backup of the data on such a crucial public examination which has two papers of 200 marks each with negative marking for wrong answers. The exam is on the lines of those conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.