Indian Army Soldier (General Duty) Recruitment 2024: Dates, Exams & Vacancy

Do you want to join the Indian Army after 10th or 10+2? If yes, this article will be of help to you. Here, I’ve provided important details about the Soldier (General Duty) recruitment conducted by the Indian Army. This article covers topics such as – age limit, eligibility criteria, educational qualifications, test, syllabus, application process, important dates and selection process.

Soldier (General Duty) is probably the most important part of the Indian Army. A large part of the Indian Army is made up of General Duty Soldiers. They carry out crucial tasks in the departments of Arms or Services.

As a General Duty Soldier, you could be drafted into the Arms department or Services department. Arms division is mainly about Infantry, Artillery, Armored Corps, Engineers or Army Air Defense (AAD) as fighting troops, drivers, operators, gunners etc and many other General Duties.

Services department is all about Army Service Corps (ASC), Ordnance, Army Medical Corps (AMC) on General Duties, operators, drivers etc. Both Arms and Services divisions are equally important to the Indian Army. In short, General Duty soldiers play an integral part in the smooth functioning of the Indian Army!

10th passed unmarried male candidates are eligible to apply for the post of Soldier (General Duty). Let us check out the eligibility criteria now.

Eligibility criteria

Educational qualifications required –

SSLC / Matric with 45% marks in aggregate and 33% in each subject. No percentage required for higher qualification i.e. 10+2 and above.

Age limit –

17½ to 21 years.

Physical standards-

Height: Western Himalayan Region (166 cms), Eastern Himalayan Region (160 cms), Western Plains Region (170 cms), Eastern Plains Region (169 cms), Central Region (168 cms), Southern Region (166 cms).

Chest: Western Himalayan Region (77 cms), Eastern Himalayan Region (77 cms), Western Plains Region (77 cms), Eastern Plains Region (77 cms), Central Region (77 cms), Southern Region (77 cms).

Weight: Western Himalayan Region (48 Kg), Eastern Himalayan Region (48 Kg), Western Plains Region (50 Kg), Eastern Plains Region (50 Kg), Central Region (50 Kg), Southern Region (50 Kg).

Medical standards –

• A candidate should have robust physique and good mental health.
• Chest should be well developed having minimum 5 cms expansion.
• Should have normal hearing with each ear and good binocular vision in both eyes. He should be able to read 6/6 in distant vision chart with each eye. Color vision should be CP – III (able to recognize white, red and green signal colors correctly as shown by Martin’s Lantern at 1.5 mtrs).
• Should have sufficient number of natural healthy gum and teeth i.e. minimum 14 dental points.
• Should not have diseases like deformity of bones, hydrocele and varicocele or piles.
• Soldier General Duty for infantry should have 6/6 eye sight.

Recruitment process

Soldier (General Duty) recruitment is carried out through ZROs (Zonal Recruitment Office). Your district falls under a specific ZRO in your state. Your application will be processed by the relevant ZRO.

Here’s a list of ZROs –

• Ambala
• Bangalore
• Chennai
• Danapur
• Jabalpur
• Jaipur
• Jalandhar
• Kolkata
• Lucknow
• Pune
• Shillong
• GRD Kunraghat Gorakhpur
• IRO Delhi Cantt

Under the supervision of ZROs, AROs (Army Recruiting Office) carry out recruitment rallies and CEE (Common Entrance Test).

Here are the steps involved (starting from application to the last stage of the test)-

1. Registration at Recruitment Rally
2. Document verification
3. Physical Fitness Test
4. Medical test
5. CEE (Common Entrance Test)
6. Publication of final merit list

Recruitment rally dates

ZROs conduct recruitment rallies throughout the year. They conduct open rally system to recruit candidates. Dates of such rallies and CEE are usually advertised in local newspapers and on the Join Indian Army website.

Readers are advised to keep an eye on the official Join Indian Army website and leading dailies. For example, watch out for Soldier (General Duty) recruitment for the year 2024 on the website and newspapers.

Also read:

Soldier Clerk Recruitment

Indian Army Recruitment Rally Schedule

Exam and syllabus

To become a General Duty Soldier, one must appear for the following tests –

• Physical Fitness Test
• Medical Test
• CEE (Common Entrance Test)

The PFT (Physical Fitness Test) comprises of –

• 1.6 Km run
• Pull ups
• Balance
• 9 feet ditch

CEE is a written test that tests the candidate’s knowledge in subjects such as – GK, Mathematics, Computer and Science. Questions asked in the CEE exam will be of 8th, 9th, 10th standard level.

Final selection

The final selection will be merit based. Based on the marks scored by candidates in Physical Fitness Test, Medical Test and CEE, a merit list will be made. If your name features in the merit list, you will be selected to undergo further training!

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Sreedharan ES

Career counselor at Courses After 10th

Sreedharan is a journalist with over 25 years of work experience. He writes on topics such as - career, job hunting, government jobs in India & current affairs.

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