District Collector Vakati Karuna attended a high-level meeting of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), as the administration is gearing up to conduct civil services preliminary examination to be held for the first time in Warangal on August 7.

Recently, the UPSC had called all 72 civil servants for a meeting to discuss the ways and means of conducting the examination. The UPSC selected Warangal as a centre from this year onwards. To review the arrangements, UPSC additional secretary (examinations) Maruthi Prasad Tangirala held a video conference from New Delhi with district officials last week.

Speaking to The Hindu , the Collector said they were ready to conduct the examination. The district officials gained a good amount of experience by conducting all-India examinations like the JEE, and this would help conduct the UPSC exam smoothly.

Warangal, as a test centre, would be a great convenience to the civil services aspirants here. As many as 10,585 candidates have opted for Warangal as a test centre, she said.

The test would be held at 23 centres in 19 locations. Section 144 would be imposed around the centers, along with tight security arrangements, the Collector said.

Mr. Maruthi Prasad has asked the Ms. Karuna to apprise supervisors about the UPSC guidelines and deploy five member police team at each test centre. An observer of the commission would visit the district two days ahead of the examination to review the arrangements.

The State government should also appoint a person as an observer.

A total of 11.36 lakh candidates have applied for the exam. The test would be held in 72 centres across the country.