Cuttack: The Odisha Civil Service (Preliminary) Examination, 2017, will be held on February 18.

Odisha Public Service Commission secretary Krushna Prasad Pati told The Telegraph on Friday that admit cards and instruction sheet of those eligible to take the examination were available on the commission's website www.opsc.gov.in.

Over 5,000 admit cards have already been downloaded in the past two days, he said. The examinees will be vying for 106 vacancies in the state civil services.

"Arrangements are being made for around 45,449 candidates to take the civil service preliminary examination, 2017, at examination centres in five zones that include Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Berhampur and Sambalpur," Pati said.

"The decision to conduct the examination on February 18 was taken as further postponement was not possible due to the impending high school certificate examination of the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, and lack of examination centres. Hence the decision to conduct the prelims with a minor overlap was unavoidable," Pati said.

Earlier the commission had decided to hold the exam in December. But it was postponed after candidates, who had qualified for previous year's main examination, requested the commission to defer it in view of the ongoing interview. "There are only 60 candidates appearing for the interview prior to February 18," he said.