Indian Army GD 2024: Age Limit, Application, Selection Process

Indian Army GD is a part of the Indian Army’s General Duty section. In this section, different types of ground soldiers exist such as fighting troops, riflemen, gunners, drivers, land defense forces, operators, etc. Apart from this posts in Army Medical Corps (AMC), Army Service Corps (ASC), Ordinance, etc. are considered under the Indian Army General Duty Section. You should note that the Indian Army is the second largest Army in the world with millions of soldiers. A large number of youngsters apply to join the Indian army every year.

The Indian Army has a very clear and transparent recruitment system. This article can help you a lot if you are wondering how to join the Indian Army’s General Duty. 

Indian Army GD 2024 Eligibility Criteria

It is compulsory for a candidate preparing for the Indian Army GD 2024 make sure he matches the following eligibility criteria.

Age Limit

• The Indian Army GD Age Limit is 17.5 years to 21 years. It is advised that candidates should check the official notification of their particular state or district to know from which date the age will be calculated.

Nationality

To maintain national integrity of the Army, the government of India has fixed rules of nationality in order to join the Indian army. Given below are the rules.

• All Indian Citizens are allowed to join the Indian Army if they meet the rest of the eligibility criteria.
• Those candidates who have nationalities of Bhutan and Nepal can also apply.
• Those Tibetan refugees in India, who came here before 1^st January 1962 to permanently settle here are also eligible.
• A person of Indian origin who migrated from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda, the united republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zaire, Burma, Ethiopia, and Vietnam with an intension to settle here permanently are also eligible to join the Indian Army GD.

Marital Status

• The candidate should be unmarried at the time of the recruitment.

Physical Standards

The Indian Army wants to recruit fit candidates. That’s why it has set certain bars of physical standards that every candidate must meet. Given below are the physical standards required for Indian Army GD selection.

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Chest

• The chest of a candidate should be at least 77 cm with a minimum expansion of 5 cms.

Height and Weight

• The height and weight requirements are different for candidates from different states as given in the table below.

Apart from the table mentioned, candidates from different regions get certain relaxations as shown in the table below.

Educational Qualification

• Candidates must have passed class 10^th or equivalent examination with a minimum of 45% aggregate marks and at least 33% marks in each subject.

Indian Army GD 2024 Application Form

The application form for Indian Army GD will release in online mode only. Those who want to apply need to visit the official website i.e. joinindianarmy.nic.in. in order to access the application form. The complete process of application form submission is explained below.

• First of all, aspirants need to visit the official website i.e. joinindianarmy.nic.in.
• To start the process of application form submission, aspirants have to register by providing some of the basic details such as email address, phone number, etc.
• Then, candidates have to sign-in by providing their login credentials generated during registration.
• After that, aspirants are required to enter their complete educational, personal, and contact details.
• In addition to details, it is also compulsory for candidates to upload their photographs and signature.
• Along with the application form, candidates are required to pay the necessary application fee.
• Finally, aspirants should take a printout of the application form submitted for future references.

Admit Card

• The admit card of the Indian Army GD will be sent to the registered email ID of the candidates.
• Apart from this, candidates may download the same from the official website.
• In order to download the admit card, aspirants have to provide their registration details.
• All important information related to the examination such as the date, time and venue of the exam will be mentioned on the admit card.
• No candidate will be allowed to enter the examination hall without an admit card.
• Keep the admit card safe even after the exam for future references.

Indian Army GD Selection Process

The selection process of Indian Army GD includes the following stages.

First Stage: Physical Fitness Test (PFT)

The physical fitness test is the first stage of the recruitment process. It consists of many rounds as explained below.

Height, Weight,and Chest Measurement

• As soon as candidates reach the site of recruitment, they will be queued for height, weight, and chest measurement.
• Those who will not satisfy the minimum chest, chest expansions, or height requirements will be disqualified from the rally.
• You should note that height, chest, and weight measurement can be done at any point during the Physical test. So, you should apply only if you meet all the physical standard criteria.

1 mile running (1600 meter race)

• Those who will clear the height, weight and chest measurement will be allowed to participate in 1 mile or 1600 meter running.
• Every candidate needs to complete the race within 5 minutes and 45 seconds. Otherwise, they will be disqualified.
• Those candidates who will finish the race early will get more marks as shown in the table below.

• Extra time will be provided to the candidates if the recruitment rally is conducted in areas higher than 5000 ft. as shown below.
  • Between 5000 ft. to 9000 ft. – extra 30 seconds will be provided.
  • Between 9000 ft. to 12000 ft. – extra 120 seconds will be provided.

Pull Ups

• Those who will finish the race within time limits will be asked to perform pull-ups.
• The maximum marks for pull-ups are 40.
• The more pull-ups you do the more marks you will get.
• Check out the distribution of marks for pull-ups as given in the table below.

9 Feet Ditch Jump

• In the Indian Army GD Physical Fitness Test, candidates have to jump over a 9 feet hurdle or ditch.
• Please note that it is a qualifying examination, candidates just need to clear this. No marks will be awarded for the same.
• Aspirants will get 3 attempts to clear this test. Those who will not be able to jump over 9 feet in their three attempts will be disqualified.

Zig Zag balance

• Just like 9 feet ditch Jump, Zig Zag balance is also a qualifying exam.
• Every candidate need to clear this test. However, no marks will be given for the same.
• During this exam, applicants will be asked to go from one end to another of a zig zag shaped narrow wooden stand without falling.
• Candidates are advised to make sure their feet are well dried before they walk.

Second Stage: Medical Test

Only those candidates will be allowed to take part in the medical fitness test who will clear all rounds of the Physical fitness test. The medical team will examine the following things during the medical examination.

• Aspirants should not have any mental disease. He should be free from any disabilities and must possess a healthy physique.
• The chest of a candidate must be in a good shape. He should be able to expand the chest at least 5 cm.
• There must not be bone disease or defect in the candidate. All the important joints of a candidate will be checked during the examination.
• The speaking, viewing, and listening capabilities of a candidate should be perfect. Candidates who have eye, ear, and throat diseases will be rejected.
• There should not be any heart-related disease in a candidate. Plus, the aspirant’s blood pressure should be under control.
• Aspirants must not have diseases related to the internal organs like kidneys, liver, spleen, etc.
• Examination of urine will also be done during the medical test.
• The teeth of a candidate must be in good condition.
• Aspirants having any kind of communicable diseases will be rejected in this examination.

Third Stage: Written Test

Candidates who will clear the Physical fitness and medical test will be allowed to take part in the written test. Generally, written testsare conducted, 20 – 30 days after the medical test. The written test is also known as Common Entrance Exam (CEE). For Soldier GD, it is also known as the NER exam. The exam pattern for Soldier GD CEE 2020 is given below.

• Mode of examination: Offline (Pen and paper test)
• Type of questions: Objective type multiple choice questions
• Number of questions: 50
• Duration of the examination: 1 hour
• Maximum Marks: 100
• Marking Scheme: Each question will carry 2 marks
• Negative marking: 0.5 marks will be deducted in case of an incorrect answer

Indian Army GD 2024 Syllabus

The syllabus of the Indian Army GD Common Entrance Examination is given below.

General Knowledge – Abbreviations (National and International), Sports (National and International), Awards & Prizes (National awards, Gallantry awards, Nobel prizes), History (Important dates & battles in Indian and World History and Landmarks of Indian History, national movement), Geography (Solar System, Space exploration, The Earth, Principal Peaks, Deserts, Rivers, Lakes and famous Waterfalls, Geographical Tallest, Biggest, and Longest, etc.), Terminology (Geographical terms, Economic terms, Astronomical terms, Legal terms, and Misc terms), Other topics (UNO, Indian Armed Forces, Indian Towns, States, and UTs, Institutions and research stations, International space stations and festivals of India and world, Indian News Agencies and Dailies, Continents and Sub Continent, Inventions and Discoveries, Environment, The Constitution of India, Religious Communities and Principal Languages, National and International Days, International Organizations, Books and Authors, The world of plants and animals, Current Affairs and “Who`s Who”.)

General Science – Human Body (Food and nutrition, disease and prevention, vitamins and their uses), Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Name of diseases and terms used in medical science, Scientific Terms.

Mathematics – Arithmetic (Unitary method, time, work and distance, simple interest, numbers, HCF, LCF, Decimal, fraction, square roots, percentage, average, ratio and proportion, partnership, profit, and loss.), Algebra (Basic operations and factorization, HCF and LCM, quadratic equations), Geometry (Lines and angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, and parallelograms and circles), Mensuration (Area and perimeters of squares, rectangles, parallelograms and circles, volume and surface area of cube, cuboids, cone, cylinders, and sphere)

Result

• The result of the Indian Army GD will release in online mode through the official website.
• Those candidates who will score more than cut-off marks will be selected for recruitment.
• You should note that the minimum qualifying marks in the CEE are 32 out of 100. However, the actual cutoff will go much higher. So, candidates must prepare well for the examination.

Frequently Asked Questions