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| Flag of Indian Army |
Working with the Indian Army, one of the largest and the finest in the world is not just a career; it’s a challenge to serve the nation, an opportunity to be trained in the hi-technology arena and a noble approach to be disciplined, civilized and cultured. The Indian Army recruits, trains and absorbs Indian citizens for various posts in both the officer and other ranks.
For officers, the Army recruits on Permanent Commission (absorption till retirement) and Short Service Commission (for a tenure of 5 years) basis. Candidates have to qualify the tests for National Defence Academy (NDA) or the Indian Military Academy (IMA) to join Army as permanent commission.
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| Indian army soldiers with 1st Battalion |
Candidates who have passed their class 12 of the 10+2 system of education or equivalent and are within the age group of 161/2 to 19 years are eligible for NDA examination followed by SSB interview. Advertisements are notified twice a year during March/April and October/November by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
For entry in Indian Army through IMA, candidates have the option of Direct Entry, Engineering Graduate Entry, University entry Scheme and 10+2 PCM (Technical) Entry scheme.
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| Sudan Block at the National Defence Academy (India) |
* Engineering graduates may apply to Additional Directorate General of Recruiting (TGC), Army HQ, West Block III, RK Puram, New Delhi - 110066 for direct SSB interview for Engineering Entry.
* For University Entry Scheme which is commenced in the month of July each year, the applicant should be in the final or pre-final year of an engineering degree course and qualify the campus interview and SSB interview.
* Candidates who have passed 10+2 with aggregate marks and are between 161/2 and 191/2 years of age are eligible for 10+2 PCM (Technical) Entry. The candidates should apply directly to the Recruitment Directorate through mail to recruitingdirectorate@vsnl.net.
The Indian Army also recruits women in the Officer cadre under its special recruitment scheme for women. Indian women, who have done graduations and post-graduation, wishing to be an Army Officer may apply for the Short Service Commission. The applications will be first of all screened by the Recruiting Directorate of the Army Headquarters and the candidates are allowed to appear the SSB test. Selected candidates are trained at the officer Training Academy (OTA), Chennai.
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| The shield(emblem) of the HQ Command of the Indian Army |
Recruitment in Indian Army for ranks other than officers such as Non-Commissioned ranks and Jawans is conducted through the Branch Recruiting Offices (BRO) and Head Quarter Recruiting Zones. The dates of the recruitment rallies are notified in all the leading local news papers of the respective location and also in the Employment News. The candidates may contact their respective BROs and Zonal Offices for the date of rally and report to the recruiting Officer along with their relevant certificates, mark sheets, documents and six copies of latest photographs. For various locations of BROs and Zonal Offices across the country, candidates may log on to RECRUITMENT LOCATIONS section of the official web site of Indian Army.
The recruitment procedure follows a series of procedures such as;
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| National Defence Academy Insignia, 1956 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
* Checking of documents.
* Physical measurements.
* Physical fitness test.
* Medical examination.
* Written examination.
* Preparation of merit list.
* Enrolment and Dispatch of selected candidates in order of merit to Centres.
The test is comprised of both written test and physical and medical fitness test. The Common Entrance Examination (CEE) conducted on last Sundays of each month for recruitment of Soldiers consists of the following two papers;
* Paper-I - Compulsory for all soldier categories
* Paper-II - For Sol. Technical, Sol. ClK (GD/SKT) and Sol. Nursing Assistant.
