Eligibility for IES

(I) Nationality:

A candidate must be either:

  1. A citizen of India, or
  2. A subject of Nepal, or
  3. A subject of Bhutan, or
  4. A Tibetan refugee who came over to Indian before the 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
  5. A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka or East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and 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 favor 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 by the Government of India.

(II) Age Limits:

  • A candidate for this examination must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on the 1st January of the current year
  • The upper age-limit of 30 years will be relaxable upto 35 years in the case of Government servants of the following categories, if they are employed in a Department/Office under the control of any of the authorities mentioned in column 1 below and apply for admission to the examination for all or any of the Service(s)/Posts mentioned in column 2, for which they are otherwise eligible.
  • A candidate who holds substantively a permanent post in the particular Department/Office concerned. This relaxation will not be admissible to a probationer appointed against a permanent post in the Department/Office during the period of his probation.
  • A candidate who has been continuously in a temporary service on a regular basis in the particular Department/Office for at least 3 years on the 1st August, of current year.

Column 1 Column 2
Railway Department I.R.S.E. I.R.S.M.E. I.R.S.E.E. I.R.S.S.E. I.R.S.S.
Central Public Works Department C.E.S.—Group ‘A’ C.E. and M.E.S., Group ‘A’
Engineer-in-Chief, Army Headquarters M.E.S. Group A (IDSE B and R Cadre),M.E.S. Group A (IDSE—E. and M. Cadre)
Directorate General Ordnance Factories I.O.F.S. Group A
Central Water Commission C.W.E. Service (Group A)
Central Electricity Authority C.P.E. Service (Group A)
Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing/Monitoring Organization Engineer (Group ‘A’)
Indian Navy Indian Naval Armament Service, Assistant Naval Store Officer Grade I
Border Roads Organization Border Roads Engineering Service.
Geological Survey of India Drilling Engineer (Jr.) Gr. ‘A’

NOTE —The period of apprenticeship if followed by appointment against working posts on the Railways may be treated as Railway Service for the purpose of age concession.

* The upper age-limit prescribed above will be further relaxable :
  1. Upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.
  2. 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.
  3. Upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu and Kashmir during the period from the 1st January, 1980 to the 31st day of December, 1989.
  4. Upto a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Service personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area, and released as a consequence thereof;
  5. 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 August, and have been released
    • On completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st August, ) otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency, or
    • On account of physical disability attributable to Military Service or
    • On invalidment.
  6. 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 Services as on 1st August, 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 they will be released on three months’ notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.
  7. Upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and Orthopedically handicapped persons.

The candidature of a person who is admitted to the examination under the age concession mentioned in Para 3(II)(b) above shall be cancelled if, after submitting his application he resigns from service or his services are terminated by his department/office either before or after taking the examination. He will, however, continue to be eligible if he is retrenched from the Service or post after submitting his application. A candidate who after submitting his application to the department is transferred to other department/office will be eligible to compete under departmental age concession provided his application has been forwarded by his parent department.

*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 recognized 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 along with the detailed applications which will be required to be submitted by the candidates who qualify on 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 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/SECONDARY EXAMINATION CERTIFICATE OR AN EQUIVALENT CERTIFICATE ON THE DATE OF SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION 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 THE 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:- CANDIDATES SHOULD EXERCISE DUE CARE WHILE ENTERING THEIR DATE OF BIRTH IN COLUMN 8 OF THE APPLICATION FORM. 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) Minimum Educational Qualification:

For admission to the examination, a candidate must have :

  • obtained a degree in Engineering from a University incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other Educational Institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as Universities under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956; or
  • passed Section A and B of the Institution Examinations of the Institution of Engineers (India); or
  • obtained a degree/diploma in Engineering from such foreign University/College/Institution and under such conditions as may be recognized by the Government for the purpose from time to time, or
  • passed Graduate Membership Examination of the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (India); or
  • passed Associate Membership Examination Parts II and III/Sections A and B of the Aeronautical Society of India; or
  • passed Graduate Membership Examination of the Institution of Electronics and Radio Engineers, London held after November, 1959. Provided that a candidate for the post of Indian Naval Armament Service (Electronics Engineering Posts and Engineer Group ‘A’ in Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing/Monitoring Organisation) may possess any of the above qualifications or the qualification mentioned below namely:-Sc. degree or its equivalent with Wireless Communication, Electronics, Radio Physics or Radio Engineering as a special subject.
Note 1:—A candidate who has appeared at an examination the passing of which would render him educationally qualified for this examination, but has not been informed of the result, may apply for admission to the examination. A candidate who intends to appear at such a qualifying examination may also apply. Such candidates will be admitted to the examination, if otherwise eligible, but their admission would be deemed to be provisional and subject to cancellation, if they do not produce proof of having passed the requisite qualifying examination along with the detailed applications which will be required to be submitted by the candidates who qualify on the result of written part of the examination.
Note 2:—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 has passed examinations conducted by other institutions the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his admission to the examination.
Note 3:—A candidate who is otherwise qualified but who has taken a degree from a foreign University which is not recognized by Government, may also apply to the Commission and may be admitted to the examination at the discretion of the Commission. (iv) Physical standards – Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Engineering Services Examination, as per guidelines given in the rules for the Engineering Services Examination

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