Sentinels of the sea

Gauri Chhabra

If you wish to have a career that mixes adventure with the thrill of serving the country then check out vacancies in the Indian Coast Guard. At Indian Coast Guard you play the important role of protecting the nation’s interests.

Know your employer

The Indian Coast Guard is a multi-mission organisation, that conducts round-the-year real-life operations in sea. Despite being relatively small, it has a wide range of task capabilities for both surface and air operations.

The organisation is headed by the Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG) exercising his overall command and superintendence from the Coast Guard Headquarters (CGHQ) located at New Delhi.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is an armed force that protects India’s maritime interests and enforces maritime law, with jurisdiction over the territorial waters of India, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone.

The Indian Coast Guard was formally established on August 18, 1978 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India as an independent armed force of India. It operates under the Ministry of Defence.

Getting in

You can enter the Coastal Guard as an Officer or a sailor. The Indian Coast Guard recently announced two notifications — one for the post of Assistant Commandant (General Duty) — 02/2020 Batch for Men under special recruitment drive vacancies for SC/ ST and the second for the post of Coast Guards(Navik).

Let us understand what these are, the differences in the recruitment process and the roles thereafter:

Eligibility

For Assistant Commandant posts: The number of vacancies in this category for the 2020 intake is 25. Candidates should have a Bachelor’s degree from a recognised university with a minimum 55 per cent marks in aggregate . Those who are in their last year of Graduation are not eligible to apply.

Minimum 55 per cent marks in mathematics and physics as subjects in Class XII of 10+2+3 scheme of education (Candidates not having the physics & maths in 10 + 2 (Intermediate) level are not eligible for General Duty(GD). 5 per cent relaxation in minimum marks will be given to the candidates belonging to SC/ST category and those who have outstanding achievements in sports events at the Open National Championship/ Inter-state National Championship. For the assistant Commandant Post.

The age limit is 21-25 years on July 1, of the year of recruitment (05 years relaxation for CG uniformed personnel/ SC / ST and 03 years for OBC).

For Coastal Guard Navik

Candidates must have cleared Plus II with mathematics and physics from an education board recognised by the Central/ state government with a minimum 50 per cent aggregate marks.

Candidates from 18 to 22 years of age are eligible to apply for Indian Coast Guard Navik (GD).

As per the official notification, candidates must be born between August 1, 1998 and July 31, 2002. SC/ST and OBC candidates will get age relaxation of 5 years and 3 years, respectively.

Selection process

Assistant Commandant Post

The selection of the candidates will be done on the basis of shortlisting of applications, preliminary exam, Psychological Test, Group Task and Interview.

Stage 1

Shortlisting of applications: Shortlisting criteria will be based on higher percentage of marks in the qualifying exam.

Stage 2

Preliminary Exam: Shortlisted candidates will be called for Prelims. The prelims exam consists of Mental Ability Test/ Cognitive Aptitude Test and Picture Perception & Discussion Test (PP & DT).

Stage 3

Final Exam: The candidates who qualify in prelims will be called for Final Selection. The Final Selection will have a Psychological Test, Group Task and Interview (Personality test) round. Candidates will have to produce original documents during the interview round.

For Coastal Guard( Navik)

There would be a written exam and candidates will be shortlisted for a written exam based on the marks obtained in Plus II.

For every centre, qualifying cutoff percentage will be different; it may increase if applications with the higher percentage are received.

The candidates who clear both written and fitness tests then have to go for the final medical examination.

The exam will be offline and objective type, questions will be asked in MCQs format.

It would cover subjects such as basic English, mathematics, physics, basic chemistry, Reasoning, Current Affairs and Quantitative Aptitude of the academic level of Class XII.

Language of questions will be Hindi and English and there is no negative marking for the wrong answer.

Those qualifying the written test will be asked to appear for the Physical Fitness Test (PFT).

Physical Fitness Test (PFT)

For both the posts, PFT will be conducted for all those who qualify the written tests. Candidates undergoing PFT will do so at their own risk. All candidates are advised to be in possession of a sports rig (Shoe, T-shirt, Trouser etc). The PFT consists of:-

• 1.6 Km run to be completed in 7 minutes.
• 20 Squat ups (Uthak Baithak).
• 10 Push ups

Medical Examination

Authorised military doctors will conduct the medical examination of the candidates who clear written test and PFT. Different parameters of medical examination are: minimum height of 167 cm, proportioned chest with minimum expansion of 5 cm and weight should be proportionate to height and age (+ 10 percentage, visual standards 6/6 for the better eye and 6/9 for the worse eye.Permanent tattoos on any part of the body are not allowed.

Difference in Role
The Coastal Guard Officers (GD) Branch:

The command of ships at sea can only be exercised by officers of the General-Duty (GD) branch. The key functions of a General-Duty Officer is to operate weapons, sensors and different kinds of equipment on board a ship. The safety of the ship and the men would be GD officers responsibility.

All District Commanders (COMDIS) and Commander of Coast Guard Region (COMCG) appointments are exercised by a GD Officer of the Indian Coast Guard.

Enrolled personnel

The Coast Guard Naviks come under the Enrolled personnel branch. They serve as either a yantrik (technician) or navik (sailor).

Yantriks are responsible for operating and maintaining mechanical, electrical or aeronautical equipment and systems on board the Coast Guard vessels and aircraft.

As a Navik, you may further serve in the General-Duty or Domestic branches. The General-Duty naviks serve as sailors, weapons systems operators, communication specialists, divers, etc. or in specific maritime or aviation support roles. Domestic branch naviks serve in roles such as stewards, cooks, etc. on board Coast Guard vessels.

Enrolled personnel of Indian Coast Guard are trained along with Indian Naval sailors at the naval training establishment INS Chilka. All training undertaken by Coast Guard personnel is the same as those undertaken by sailors in the Indian Navy. All personnel are trained in the operation of weapons systems in case of emergency.

Info source for training modules: https://joinindiancoastguard.gov.in/

Pay Scale
For Assistant Commandant ( GD)

• The Pay Level would be Level 10 with a basic pay of Rs56,000 whereas after joining, a Navik in Indian coast Guard will be entitled to get a basic pay of Rs 21,700 (Pay Level-3) plus DA and other allowances (based on nature of duty/location of posting).
• A Navik can be promoted upto the rank of Pradhan Adhikari with pay scale Rs47600 (Pay Level - 8) with Dearness Allowance.
• Besides basic pay and allowances,both the profiles are entitled to get free ration, clothing, medical treatment, government accommodation for self and family on nominal rate, canteen and various loan facilities. After retirement, they can avail ECHS medical facilities.

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  Important Dates

  Commencement of submission of online application: February 9, 2020

  Admit Card Release Date: February 25, 2020 onwards

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