Eligibility Criteria for CDS 1 2019, Nationality, Age Limits, Educational Qualifications, Physical Standards – UPSC Combined Defence Services 1 Exam

Nationality / Citizenship for  UPSC Combined Defence Services 1 (CDS 1) Exam 2019

• a Citizen of India, or
• a subject of Bhutan, or
• a subject of Nepal, or
• a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before the 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

1. Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.
2. Certificate of eligibility will, however, not be necessary in the case of candidates who are Gorkha subjects of Nepal.
3. A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination provisionally subject to the necessary certificate being given to him/her by the Govt. before declaration of result by UPSC.

Age Limits for  UPSC Combined Defence Services 1 (CDS 1) Exam 2019

• For IMA—Unmarried male candidates born not earlier than 2^nd January, 1996 and not later than 1^st January, 2001 only are eligible.
• For Indian Naval Academy—Unmarried male candidates born not earlier than 2^nd January, 1996 and not later than 1^st January, 2001 only are eligible.
• For Air Force Academy— 20 to 24 years as on 1^st January, 2020 i.e. born not earlier than 2^nd January, 1996 and not later than 1^st January, 2000 (Upper age limit for candidates holding valid and current Commercial Pilot Licence issued by DGCA (India) is relaxable upto 26 yrs. i.e. born not earlier than 2^nd January, 1994 and not later than 1^st January, 2000) only are eligible.

Note: Candidate below 25 years of age must be unmarried. Marriage is not permitted during training. Married candidates above 25 years of age are eligible to apply but during training period they will neither be provided married accommodation nor can they live with family out of the premises.

• For Officers’ Training Academy—(SSC Course for men) unmarried male candidates born not earlier than 2^nd January, 1995 and not later than 1^st January, 2001 only are eligible.

• For Officers’ Training Academy—(SSC Women Non-Technical Course) Unmarried women, issueless widows who have not remarried and issueless divorcees (in possession of divorce documents) who have not remarried are eligible.

They should have been born not earlier than 2^nd January, 1995 and not later than 1^st January, 2001.

NOTE : Male divorcee/widower candidates cannot be treated as unmarried male for the purpose of their admission in IMA/INA/AFA courses and accordingly they are not eligible for these courses.

The date of birth accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation/Secondary School Examination 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 Matriculation/Secondary School Examination 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 horoscopes, affidavits, birth extracts from Municipal Corporation, service records and the like will be accepted.

The expression Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate in this part of the instruction includes the alternative certificates mentioned above.

Sometimes the Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate does not show the date of birth, or only shows the age by completed years or completed years and months. In such cases a candidate must send in addition to the self attested/certified copy of Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate a self attested/certified copy of a certificate from the Headmaster/Principal of the Institution from where he/she passed the Matriculation/Secondary School Examination showing the date of his/her birth or exact age as recorded in the Admission Register of the Institution.

NOTE :

1. Candidates should note that only the Date of Birth as recorded in the Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate or an equivalent certificate 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.
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 a subsequent examination on any ground whatsoever.
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.

Educational Qualifications for  UPSC Combined Defence Services 1 (CDS 1) Exam 2019

• For I.M.A. and Officers’ Training Academy— Degree of a recognised University or equivalent.
• For Indian Naval Academy—Degree in Engineering from a recognised University/Institution.
• For Air Force Academy—Degree of a recognised University (with Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level) or Bachelor of Engineering.

Graduates with first choice as Army/Navy/Air Force are to submit proof of graduation provisional certificates on the date of commencement of the SSB Interview at the SSB.

Candidates who are studying in the final year/semester Degree course and have yet to pass the final year degree examination can also apply provided candidate should not have any present backlog upto the last semester / year for which results have been declared upto the time of submission of application and they will be required to submit proof of passing the degree examination at the time of commencement of course to reach the IHQ of MoD (Army), Rtg ‘A’, CDSE Entry, West Block III, R. K. Puram, New Delhi-110066 in case of IMA/SSC first choice candidates and Naval HQ “DMPR” (OI & R Section), Room No. 204, ‘C’ Wing, Sena Bhawan, New Delhi-110011 in case of Navy first choice candidates and PO3(A)/Air Headquarters, ‘J’ Block, Room No. 17, Opp. Vayu Bhawan, Motilal Nehru Marg, New Delhi-110 106 in case of Air Force first choice candidates by the following dates failing which their candidature will stand cancelled :

• For admission to IMA on or before 1^st January, 2020, Indian Naval Academy on or before 1^st January, 2020 and Air Force Academy on or before 13^th November, 2019.
• For admission to Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai on or before 1^st April, 2020.

Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications which are recognised by government as equivalent to professional and technical degrees would also be eligible for admission to the examination.

In exceptional cases the Commission may treat a candidate, who does not possess 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:

1. Candidates, who have yet to pass their degree examination will be eligible only if they are studying in the final year of degree examination. Those candidates who have yet to qualify in the final year Degree Examination and are allowed to appear in the UPSC Examination should note that this is only a special concession given to them. They are required to submit proof of passing the Degree Examination by the prescribed date and no request for extending this date will be entertained on the grounds of late conduct of basic qualifying University Examination, delay in declaration of results or any other ground whatsoever. Candidates who are studying in the final year/semester degree course are required to submit at the time of SSB interview a bonafide certificate issued by University/College stating that they will be able to submit their proof of passing the graduation degree examination by the specified date, failing which their candidature will be cancelled.
2. Candidates who are debarred by the Ministry of Defence from holding any type of commission in the Defence Services shall not be eligible for admission to the examination and if admitted, their candidature will be cancelled.
3. In the event of Air Force candidates being suspended from Flying training for failure to learn flying, they would be absorbed in the Navigation/Ground Duty (Non Tech) Branches of the IAF. This will be subject to availability of vacancies and fulfilling the laid down qualitative requirements.

Physical Standards for  UPSC Combined Defence Services 1 (CDS 1) Exam 2019

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Combined Defence Services Examination (I), 2019 as per guidelines given below: