Indian Army Technical Soldiers

Naief Khatri

The defense services offer a dignified, disciplined, and prestigious life. Recruitment in the Army as soldier is broad based. Every male citizen, irrespective of caste, class, religion and domicile, is eligible for recruitment in the Army, provided he meets the specified age, educational, physical, and medical standards.

Recruitment for the post of a soldier is carried out round the year through an open rally system. The recruitment program schedule is published in leading local newspapers, two weeks prior to when the rally is being conducted by the concerned ZROs (Zonal Recruiting Officers) and BROs (Branch Recruitment Officers). If you are looking forward to a career in the Army, then you should look out for such advertisements in local dailies and report to the rally site with the following documents in original along with two attested photocopies of each document.

Xth class certificate which shows date of birth
Xth/XIth Class marks sheet
Character Certificate signed by village sarpanch (certificate should not be more than six months old)
Domicile/Nativity certificate.
Caste Certificate (if relevant).
Dependent Certificate ( in case of son of Ex-servicemen/ War Widow/Widow ). This should be issues by SRO/CRO of record office with the official’s S.No, Name, and Application of the officer signing the certificate affixed with round stamp.
Certificate of Outstanding Sportsman (if relevant)
NCC Certificate (A/B/C Certificate) (if NCC Cadet) signed by Battalion Commander/Group Commander

The screening procedure of the candidate for the post of soldier in the Army involves

Checking of documents
Physical measurements
Physical fitness test
Medical examination
Written examination
Preparation of merit list

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Indian Army Technical Soldiers Qualifications

Age: 17 ½ – 23 years

Educational Qualifications

Soldier Technical:

10+2/Intermediate examination passed in Science with Physics, Chemistry, Maths, and English with 50% aggregate and 40% in each subject.

Soldier Technical (Aviation and Ammunition Examiner):

10+2/Intermediate examination passed in Science with Physics, Chemistry, Maths, and English with 50% aggregate and 40% in each subject.
Or 3-years diploma in Engineering (Mechanical/Electrical/Automobiles/Computer Science/Mechanical Engineering and Electronic & Instrumentation Engg) from a Polytechnic Institute.

Physical Fitness Tests (PFT)

The physical requirements to join the Indian army are as described below:

Regions	States	Height	Chest	Weight
Western Himalayan Region	Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab Hills (Area South and West of the Inter State Border between Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and North and East ofRoad Mukerian, Hoshiarpur, Garh Shankar, Ropar and Chandigarh), Garhwal and Kumaon (Uttarakhand)	163	77	48
Eastern Himalayan Region	Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Hill Region of West Bengal (Gangtok, Darjeeling and Kalimpong Districts)	157	77	48
Western Plains Region	Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh,Delhi, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh (Meerut and Agra Division)	170	77	50
Eastern Plains Region	Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa	169	77	50

For recruitment in the Soldier Technical category, there is an additional dispensation of 1 cm in chest measurement. Special physical measurements are also applicable to applicants from certain areas and heritage. This is applicable to recruits from Ladakh, Nepal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Tribals of recognized Tribal Areas. There is also a relaxation in physical standards for sons of serving soldiers,ex-servicemen, war widows, widows of ex-servicemen, outstanding sportsmen, and candidates belonging to chronically poor areas or those who want to join overage categories and are from families engaged in traditional profession.

The details for these are available on the official recruitment site, joinindianarmy.nic.in.

Medical Requirements

For a candidate applying to the Indian army as a soldier technical, the following are the medical requisites:

Robust physique and good mental health
Well-developed chest with minimum 5 cm expansion
Normal hearing with each ear
Good binocular vision in both eyes. Should be able to read 6/6 in distant vision chart with each eye. The candidate should have a colour vision of CP-III and should recognize white, red, and green colors.
Sufficient number of natural healthy gum and teeth i.e. minimum 14 dental points
No diseases like deformity of bones, hydrocele and varicocle, or piles.

Physical Fitness Tests (PFT)

Applicants are required to prove their physical fitness by passing the following tests:

1-Mile Run for Endurance
Pull Ups for Strength
Zig-Zag Balance for Agility
9 Feet Ditch for Courage

Marking system is as follows :-

(a) 1-Mile Run

5.40 Mins and below: 60 Mks
5.41 Mins to 5.50: 48 Mks
Above 6.20 mins: Fail

(b) Pull Ups

A miminum of 6 pull ups are essential for a candidate to pass

(c) Balance – Should qualify and no marks are awarded

(d) 9 Feet Ditch – Should qualify and no marks are awarded

Weightage in Merit

Bonus marks are also added, where Common Entrance Examination marks are considered if the individual has qualified in his Physical Test.