To avoid last minute rush, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has asked all its aspirants to download the e-admit card "well in advance" those who will appear for the civil services preliminary exam on Sunday.
The Union Public Service Commission has stopped issuing paper admit cards for the past few years and candidates are required to download it from its website.
"To avoid the last minute rush, candidates are advised to download their 'e-admit card' and 'important instructions to the candidates' well in advance," the UPSC said in its latest advisory.
The directive assumes significance as there have been complaints in the past of the UPSC website crashing or being slow to respond.
Early downloading of e-admit card will relieve pressure on the website that sees a large number of visitors close to the exam.
Candidates have also been asked to check the e-admit card carefully and bring discrepancies, if any, to the UPSC's notice immediately.
They should note that any omission, mistake, discrepancy in encoding or filling in details in the OMR answer sheet, especially with regard to roll number and test booklet series code, will render the answer sheet liable for rejection, it said.
In a set of dos and don'ts, UPSC has asked candidates not to bring any costly items inside the examination venue.
"Electronic gadgets like cellular/mobile phones, any other devices for communication, laptop, blue tooth device, and calculator are banned inside the examination hall.
"Any infringement of these instructions shall entail disciplinary action against the candidates concerned including debarment from future examinations/selection," it said.
The civil services examination is conducted annually by the Commission in three stages — preliminary, main and
interview — to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
The civil services preliminary examination 2017 is scheduled to be held on 18 June.
A large number of students from across the country appear in this prestigious test. About 4.59 lakh had taken last
year's civil services prelims.
Of these, 1,099 have been declared successful in the test, the result of which was declared on 31 May.
The e-admit card can be downloaded from the website, upsconline.nic.in.
-With PTI inputs.