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.