The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will provide free UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) coaching to Scheduled Caste (SC) students in collaboration with the newly-established Dr Ambedkar Centre for Excellence (DACE). Candidates will be selected for this free coaching through the Common Entrance Test (CET), which will be conducted by IGNOU.

DACE has already started the registrations, and interested candidates can apply for this via the official IGNOU website, ignou.ac.in, before June 30, 2022. All the candidates will need to provide their duly attested caste certificates issued by the competent authority for availing this opportunity.

The entrance exam will consist of 100 objective-type questions based on general knowledge, language skills, reasoning abilities and general aptitude. The minimum eligibility criteria to appear for the test is graduation in any subject from a recognised university. However, students who are appearing for their final UG exams can also apply, with the condition that they would be required to produce their pass certificate at the time of commencement of the coaching classes.

A total of 100 candidates will be selected for this scheme, out of which, there is a 33% reservation for women candidates. Students will be provided UPSC coaching free for both the Preliminary and Main rounds of the Civil Services Exam (CSE). It must be noted that the selected candidates will be given coaching only once, irrespective of how many times they appear for the CSE.