New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS): In a first, the city of Leh will hold the civil services preliminary examination for 2021 on October 10 this year.
Leh is the capital city of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Sharing the information on Wednesday, the Minister for Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Jitendra Singh, said that this will address a long-pending demand of the youth from the Ladakh region whose grievance was that they found it difficult to reach the examination centres in other parts of the country, because of the constraints of affordability of airfare and uncertain weather conditions.
"The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will, from this year, have an examination centre in Leh, which will operate for the first time for the civil services (preliminary) examination 2021, scheduled to be held on October 10 this year," an official statement said.
The minister also recalled that about five years ago, the demand for a UPSC examination centre had been taken up by the DoPT, but it could not be carried further.
"With the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ladakh has been given the status of a separate Union Territory. It was considered in the fitness of things to open an exclusive and self-reliant facility for the convenience of the IAS/civil services aspirants from the region, which has, in the past gifted some of the finest IAS officers to India," Singh said.
A new centre will be opened in Leh for conducting UPSC exams, while the Lamdone Online Assessment Institute in Leh is facilitating the SSC examinations, he added.
The announcement came soon after the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R.K. Mathur, called on Singh in North Block to discuss the placement of IAS officers and other service related matters in the context of Ladakh.
Singh also informed that monetary incentives in the form of 'Special Allowances for All India Services officers' belonging to the Northeast cadres have also been extended to the AIS officers working in the UT of Ladakh vide an order dated April 12 this year.
This special allowance is 20 per cent of the basic pay to AIS officers in the Northeast region.