UPSC: SCRA Examination - Eligibility Conditions

Special Class Railway Apprentices Examination

(I) Nationality:

A candidate must be either:
(a) A citizen of India, or
(b) a subject of Nepal, or
(c) a subject of Bhutan, or
(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India. or (e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, The United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or from Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India. Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him by the Government of India.

(II) Age Limits :

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 17 years and must not have attained the age of 21 years on 1st January, i.e. he/she must have been born not earlier than 2nd January, 1991 and not later than 1st January, 1995.
(b) The upper age limit is relaxable as follows:
(i) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.

(ii) upto a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates. ‘‘The closing date fixed for the receipt of the application will be treated as the date for determining the OBC status (including that of creamy layer) of the candidates.’’

(iii) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from the 1st January, 1980 to the 31st day of December, 1989.

(iv) upto a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof:

(v) upto a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/ SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st January and have been released(1) on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st January) otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency, or (2) on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service, or (3) on invalidment.

(vi) Upto a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st January and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three month's notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.

(vii) Upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and Orthopaedically handicapped persons.

NOTE I- Candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes who are also covered under any other clauses of para 3(II) (b) above, viz. those coming under the category of Ex-Servicemen, persons domiciled in the State of J & K physically handicapped etc. will be eligible for grant of cumulative age-relaxation under both the categories.

NOTE II- The term Ex-Servicemen will apply to the persons who are defined as exservicemen in the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1979, as amended from time to time.

NOTE III- The age concession under Para 3 (II) (b) (v) to (vi) will not be admissible to Ex-Servicemen and Commissioned officers including ECOs/SSCOs, who are released on their own request.

NOTE IV- Notwithstanding the provision of age relaxation under Para 3(II)(b)(vii) above, a physically handicapped candidate will be considered to be eligible for appointment if he/she (after such physical examination as the Government or appointing authority, as the case may be, may prescribe) is found to satisfy the requirements of physical and medical standards for the concerned Services/Posts to be allocated to the physically handicapped candidates by the Government.

SAVE AS PROVIDED ABOVE THE AGE LIMITS PRESCRIBED CAN IN NO CASE BE RELAXED.

The date of birth accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognised by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by a University, which extract must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the Higher Secondary or an equivalent examination certificate.

These certificates are required to be submitted only after the declaration of the result of the written part of the examination. No other document relating to age like horo-scopes, affidavits, birth extracts from Municipal Corporation, service records and the like will be accepted. The expression Matriculation/Higher Secondary Examination Certificate in this part of the instruction includes the alternative certificates mentioned above.

NOTE 1:- Candidates should note that only the Date of Birth as recorded in the Matriculation/ Higher Secondary Examination Certificate or an equivalent certificate as on the date of submission of applications will be accepted by the Commission and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.

NOTE 2 :- Candidates should also note that once a Date of Birth has been claimed by them and entered in the records of the Commission for the purpose of admission to an Examination, no change will be allowed subsequently (or at any other Examination of the Commission) on any grounds whatsoever.

NOTE 3 :- The candidates should exercise due care while entering their date of birth. If on verification at any subsequent stage, any variation is found in their date of birth from the one entered in their Matriculation or equivalent Examination certificate, disciplinary action will be taken against them by the Commission under the Rules.

(III) Educational Qualifications :

For admission to the examination a candidate–
(a) must have passed in the first or second division, the Intermediate or an equivalent Examination of a University or Board approved by the Government of India with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the examination. Graduates with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as their degree subjects may also apply; or

(b) must have passed in the first or second divsion, the Higher Secondary (12 years) Examination under 10 plus 2 pattern of School Education with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the examination; or

(c) must have passed the first year Examination under the three year degree course of a university or the first examination of the three year diploma course in Rural Service of the National Council for Rural Higher Education or the third year Examination for promotion to the 4th year of the four year B.A./B.Sc. (Evening College) Course of the Madras University with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the examination provided that before joining the degree/ diploma course he/she passed the Higher Secondary Examination or the Pre-University or equivalent examination in the first or second division. Candidates who have passed the first/second year examination under the three-years degree course in the first or second division with Mathematics and either Physics or Chemistry as subjects of the Examination may also apply; provided the first/ second year examination is conducted by a University; or

(d) must have passed in the first or second division the Pre-Engineering Examination of a University, approved by the Government of India; or

(e) must have passed in the first or second division the Pre-Professional/ Pre-Technological Examination of any Indian University or a recognised Board, with Mathematics and at least, one of the subjects Physics andChemistry as subjects of the examination conducted one year after the Higher Secondary or Pre-University stage; or

(f) must have passed the first year examination under the five year Engineering Degree Course of a University : Provided that before joining the Degree Course, he/she passed the Higher Secondary Examination or pre- niversity or equivalent Examination in the first or second division. Candidates who have passed the first year Examination of the five-year Engineering Degree Course in the first or second division may also apply provided the first year Examination is conducted by a University; or

(g) must have passed in the first or second division the Pre-Degree Examination of the Universities of Kerala and Calicut with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the Examination. Note I : Candidates who are not awarded any specific division by the University/ Board either in the intermediate or any other Examination mentioned above will be considered educationally eligible provided their aggregate of marks falls within the range of marks for first or second division as prescribed by the University/Board concerned.

Note III : In exceptional cases, the Commission may treat a candidate who has not any of the qualifications prescribed in this rule as educationally qualified provided that he/she possesses qualifications the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission, justifies his/her admission to the Examination..

Note IV : Diplomas in Engineering awarded by the State Boards of Technical Education are not acceptable for admission to the Special Class Railway Apprentices’ Examination.

(IV) Physical Standards:

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Special Class Railway Apprentices, Examination as per Regulations given in Appendix-II of the rules for the Special Class Railway Apprentices, Examination published in Gazette of India.