BHUBANESWAR: The state government has issued modalities and guidelines for selection of UPSC aspirants for free coaching. A total of 200 aspirants will be selected through a pre-qualifying test scheduled to be held on March 26.
The state selection board will conduct the pre-qualifying entrance at Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Sambalpur, Behampur and Jeypore. Aspiring candidates have been asked to apply online and pay `100 as application fee. The last date for submission of applications is March 4.
As per the modalities prescribed, the entrance will be conducted in offline mode for two hours and it will have one paper with two sections based on general studies and aptitude. The paper will have all objective-type questions carrying 200 marks.
The selection board has made it clear that there will be a negative marking of 0.5 for every wrong answer. The minimum qualifying mark has been fixed at 33 per cent (pc). The selected candidate will be provided free coaching, food and accommodation in the city.
The state government has also decided to open a centralised professional coaching centre with a state-of-the-art library and digital learning hub here. The selected students will be kept in a suitable building till the coaching centre is ready.
The candidates will be allowed to stay for a maximum period of two years. A panel of young as well as senior IAS officers will mentor the civil services aspirants to pursue their goals.
According to a notification, candidates applying for free coaching must be in the age group of 21-30 years and possess a graduation degree or equivalent qualification. The age limit is relaxed by five years for SC/ST candidates and by three years for OBC candidates.
The reservation policy of the state will be followed in the selection of candidates and there will be no income criteria for coaching.
The decision to start the centralised coaching facility was taken after the coaching facilities developed at the university level failed to attract aspirants and yielded little results.