Now only jee mains rank to be the entry criteria for entry into navy

Now, only JEE (Mains) rank to be the entry criteria for entry into Navy

Class 12 PCM percentage no longer valid to join Navy.

By 15th Nov, 2016 | 03:33 pm

The Indian Navy has done away with Class 12 results as the criteria to gain entry into the naval force. It also plans to have new officers with B Tech degrees (apart from the traditional military and leadership skills) when they graduate from the Indian Naval Academy in Kerala. The short-listing of aspiring candidates through the 10+2 B Tech cadet entry scheme will be based only on JEE (Mains) ranks achieved in the All-India Joint Entrance Exam (AIJEE) conducted for admission into different engineering colleges.

Physics, Chemistry, Math percentage obtained in the Class 12 Board Exam will not be valid for admissions any longer.

A senior officer said, "Different state examination boards have gone berserk in awarding high marks in Class 12. We were finding the quality of candidates coming for the SSB (services selection board) training very uneven.”

"The JEE (Mains) ranks, which the CBSE has agreed to share with us, will be a better benchmark. With the government approving the move, youngsters will have to appear for the JEE (Mains) in 2017 to be eligible for the January 2018 course at INA," the officer added.

The first direct-entry batch of BTech officers passed out from the INA in May 2013. Since then, the Navy has been tweaking the three officer entry schemes.

First are the naval cadets who undergo the three-year course at the tri-service National Defence Academy (NDA) at Kadakwasla (Pune) after clearing the UPSC exam and SSB interview. These cadets, who number 78 every year, get commissioned as officers with B-Tech degrees after another year of intensive training at the INA. Then, there are the around 110 cadets who directly joined the INA for the four-year B Tech programme after clearing UPSC exams in two batches every year. Under the third and largest scheme, around 120 cadets will now be shortlisted for the SSB interview only on the basis of their JEE (Mains) ranks.

The Indian Naval force plans to build a strong cadre of officers with advanced technical expertise to handle ultra modern weapon systems and sensors in the near future.