Career in Armed Police Force
The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) refers to the uniform classification of five security powers in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Their job is to guard the public interest mostly against the dangers that are faced inside the country. They are the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). They deal with security-related issues at the international borders of our country, help in rescue operations during natural disasters, etc. The CRPF and NSG assist police to tackle Law & Order, Counter Naxal Operations, and Counter-Terrorist Operations. Guarding the national borders is primarily done by BSF, ITBP, and SSB.
Expert’s Guide
The speaker Shri. Bhanu Pratap Singh is a retired Border Security Force officer. He started his career working as Assistant Commandant in BSF and took voluntary retirement with the aim to serve for skill development of the young generation. He has served at different important positions in BSF. He is a recipient of the President Police Medal for Meritorious Services. He also served as a recruitment officer in BSF. After VRS, he started working towards skill development of youths as Director of Marg Skill Private Limited, a venture of Marg ERP Ltd. He is currently working with the same organization. During his career, he has gained experience in recruitment and also CAPF skill development. He is also good at career counseling. He has been actively helping the youth to shape their future and will continue to do the same in the future.
On 3 September 2020 Shashi Dream Foundation was honored to have a live session with Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh, as our guest speaker for a career counseling session on “ Career in Armed Police Force”. The counseling session was live-streamed on social media platforms and many viewers joined. It was a qualitative interactive session where he shared various experiences of his journey, also happily answered all the questions in a detailed analysis.
The complete Career Counseling session on ‘Career in Armed Police Force’ is available on SDF’s Facebook Page. Check out the full session on our Facebook page now👇
And on Instagram👇
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFMy47LHmcc/?igshid=h49l9zqlguqb
You can also find the complete session on our YouTube channel.
Check it now👇
Eligibility:
Those who are looking to make a career in Central Armed Police Forces have to apply for the UPSC CAPF exam. The eligibility criteria that one has to meet include the following-
- The candidate must be an Indian national. The candidates who are from Bhutan and Nepal are also eligible to apply for the exam.
- The candidate must have completed graduation from any recognized university or equivalent.
- The age of the candidate must range from 20 years to 25 years. The upper age limit for OBC candidates is 28 years and for the SC/ST candidates, the upper age limit is 30 years. For the candidates of J&K domicile, Ex-Servicemen Commissioned officer and Civilian Central Government servants, the upper age limit is 30 years.
- A candidate should qualify for the physical and medical tests as per the gender.
- There are mandatory height requirements for the candidates. The height for male candidates should be at least 165cm and the chest should be 81 cm and with expansion 86 cm. The height requirement for female candidates is 157 cm.
Skills Required:
Exams:
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is the central body that conducts the exam for CAPF. The exam is held annually and is for the recruitment of various Assistant Commandant (Group A) posts. The fee of the exam is Rs. 200 for the candidates of the general and OBC category. The candidates belonging to SC/ST and women candidates are exempted to pay any such fee. There are two written papers that are to be qualified, after which the interview is to be taken and the merit list will be drawn on the basis of the result of all these three components. The format of the exam is-
It is to be noted that there is a negative marking of (0.33) for Paper I. There is no negative marking for Paper-II. After the written examination comes Physical Efficiency. The Physical Efficiency Test is conducted on a knockout basis. The requirements for the test are-
The ones who pass the Physical Efficiency Test have to appear in medical examination. The guidelines for the same are issued by UPSC. There are two chances given to pass the examination, if one fails the first time then the candidate can get a second review medical examination.
In order to complete the process, the candidate has to pass the interview as well. The interview is for 150 marks. After this, the merit list is made with the aggregate of the marks obtained in the written test and interview. The selection is done on a choice cum merit basis. This means that the choice of the candidate is asked regarding the force he/she wants to join, if there is a vacancy they get their desired force. If not, then their second or third preferences are allocated.
The selection for the sub-inspector GD (Group B) is done by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). All the forces give their vacancies to the Ministry of Home Affairs upon which the
SSC gives notifications regarding the vacancies on its official website. The candidates who are interested have to fill the online application form from the official website. The eligibility for the SSC exam is-
- The age of the candidate should be ranging from 20 to 25 years. For the OBC category candidates, the upper limit is 28 years and for the SC/ST candidates, the upper limit is 30 years.
- The candidate should have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
- The required height of the male candidate should be 170 Centimetre, however, for the candidates from the reason of Himachal Pradesh, Leh-Ladakh, Garhwal, Gorkha Maratha, and Jammu and Kashmir the height requirement is 165 cm. The height for the candidates belonging to the ST category should be 162.5 cm.
- The chest of the Male Candidate should be 80 cm with expansion to 85 cm. The candidates belonging to the ST category should have a chest of 77 cm with an expansion of 82 cm.
- The height requirement for a female candidate is 157 cm however, for the female candidates belonging to the region of Kashmir, Leh, Ladakh, J & K, Northeast, Garhwal, Maratha, Himachal Pradesh, etc the height requirement is 155 cm. The height of female ST candidates is 154 cm.
To complete the selection process a candidate has to go through the written examination Paper 1, physical efficiency test, written examination paper 2, and medical examination. It is to be noted here that no interview is taken for the sub-inspector direct entry. The guidelines for the written examination are-
The criteria for passing the Physical Efficiency Test is –
A candidate is given two chances to clear the medical examination. After the process is complete a merit list is issued and the recruitment is done on a choice cum merit basis. After getting the forced allotment, the concerned organization produces an offer of appointment and sends the candidates for training in the respective camps.
The recruitment for the constable GD (Group C) is done by SSC. The Assam Rifles and Secretariat Security Force also participate in this recruitment process. The eligibility criteria are-
- The age of the candidate should range between 18 to 23 years. A relaxation of 3 years in the upper limit is for the candidates belonging to the OBC category. For the candidates belonging to SC/ST category, a relaxation of 5 years is observed in the upper age limit.
- The education qualification should be 10th or 12th passed.
- As per the physical standards, the height of the male candidate should be 170 cm. For candidates belonging to the ST category, the height should be 162.5 cm.
- The chest of the male candidate should be 80 cm and with expansion should be 85cm. The chest of candidates belonging to the ST community should be 77 cm and with expansion, it should be 82 cm.
- The height of the female candidates should be 157 cm and for the female candidates belonging to the ST community, the required height should be 154 cm.
The selection of a candidate is required to give a written examination which is followed by a Physical Efficiency Test and medical examination. The Physical test is on a knockout basis and for the medical examination, two chances are given.
The guidelines for the written examination are-
The criteria for passing the Physical Efficiency Test is –
After the Physical Efficiency Test, the recruitment is done on a choice cum merit basis.
Jobs and Salaries:
The recruitment in CAPF is done on three levels-
1.Gazetted Officers: Officers in the Central Armed Police Force are recruited through the CAPF Assistant Commandant Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.
2.Subordinate Officers: Sub Inspectors are recruited through a competitive examination conducted by SSC- Staff Selection Commission.
3.Constables: Constables are also recruited through a competitive examination conducted by the Staff Selection Commission.
There is also force specific recruitment done by the respective forces. This level of recruitment is done by the respective forces. It is done to appoint people for menial tasks like plumbing, cooking, water carrier, tailor, waiter, driver, etc. The recruitment is done by guidelines given by the respective force.
The pay scale for the gazette officers after getting selected in CAPF Assistant Commandant Examination is as follows-
The pay scale of the sub-inspector who qualifies for the SSC CAPF will range from Rs. 35,400 to Rs. 1,12,400. The SSC GD Constables get a salary ranging from Rs. 5,200 to Rs. 20,200.
Conclusion:
In today’s competitive world, the best way to be successful is to take a government job. Government jobs give a sense of financial security and give retirement benefits like no other job. Central Armed Police Force provides with many government jobs under the ambit of its various organizations, namely, BSF, ITBP, CRPF, SSB, and CISF. The jobs are at different levels and give a wide variety of profiles to choose from.
Click on the following links to find more information regarding our career counseling session video.👇