Eligibility Criteria for UPSC Civil Services Exam

MINIMUM EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION:

The candidate must hold a degree, or possess an equivalent qualification to fulfill the eligibility criteria for IAS. Your degree should be recognised either by an act of parliament or state legislature or University Grants Commission. To bring socio-economic balance in our society, the government encourages women to apply for CSE in large numbers.

Candidates who have appeared or intend to appear for the qualifying examination and are awaiting results are also eligible to appear for the Preliminary Examination.

Candidates who have passed the final year of MBBS or any Medical Examination but are yet to complete the internship can also appear for the Main Examination.

The UPSC may in exceptional cases treat a candidate without the foregoing requisite qualification as an eligible candidate if he/she has passed an examination conducted by other institutions, the standard of which justifies his / her admission in the opinion of the Commission.

Candidates with professional and technical qualifications recognised by the Government as equivalent to professional and technical degrees can also appear for Civil Services Examination.

NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS:

PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED (PH) AGE CRITERIA & NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS:

What will count as an attempt at the Civil Services Examination?

An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Civil Services Examination If:

RESTRICTIONS ON APPLYING FOR EXAMINATION:

A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to compete at this examination. In case such a candidate is appointed to the IAS/IFS after the Preliminary Examination of Civil Services Examination, is over and he/she continues to be a member of that service, he/she shall not be eligible to appear in the Civil Services (Main) Examination.

PHYSICAL STANDARDS:

The UPSC prescribes some eligibility criteria for successful candidates to be appointed for service. There are some Physical standards for UPSC civil services, specifically for the technical services like the Indian Police Service (IPS), the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Delhi Andaman and Nicobar Police Service (DANIPS), Pondicherry Police Service (PONDIPS), and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) such as height, weight, chest, etc. But the other non-technical services don’t require them and only some basic demands of physical health are mandatory to be satisfied by the candidates.
According to the Rule, 21 at Civil Services Examination prescribed by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) states that, “An applicant must be in a good mental and bodily health and free from any physical flaw which is likely to interfere with the discharge of his duties and responsibilities as an officer of the service.”

• There is no height, weight, and chest girth minimum requirement as such for candidates for the IAS, unlike the technical services. However, if the candidates’ measurements are disproportionate as regarded by the medical board, the candidates can be hospitalized for investigation and a chest X-ray can be taken. Please note the technical services have certain minimum requirements.
• Candidates should have a proper vision in the eyes. Corrections permitted are spectacles, CL, and refractive surgery like LASIK, ICL, IOL, etc. Those who have myopia with macular degenerative changes will be declared unfit for service in the IAS. People with a squint in the eyes are fit for service. Night blindness is also not a ground for candidates to be declared unfit.
• Blood pressure over 140/90 should be subjected to further testing in the hospital to ascertain whether the abnormal BP is temporary due to excitement, etc., and not an indication of any disease. Only candidates free from any complication of hypertension will be declared fit for service.
• Only candidates free from any complication of diabetes mellitus will be declared fit for service.
• The hearing ability of the candidate should be ‘good’ in each ear and he/she should also be free from any disease of the ear. In case of a defect, the candidate should be subjected to further tests to see if the defect can be remedied by a hearing aid or an operation.
• Pregnant female candidates will be fit except for those services that require physical training. In such cases, the candidates will be declared fit after confinement.
• Candidates’ teeth should be in ‘good order’.
• The heart and lungs of the candidate should be fine.
• There should not be any abdominal disease.
• The feet, hands, and limbs are well-formed and there should be no restriction on joint movements.
• There should not be any congenital malformation or defect.
• There should not be any sign of acute or chronic disease indicating an impaired constitution.
• Candidates should bear marks of efficient vaccination.
• The candidates should not have any communicable diseases.
• Candidates with grade I hemorrhoids are declared fit.
• Diseases like hernia, varicose veins, hydrocele, hemorrhoids, etc. are declared temporarily unfit and should be declared fit after successful surgery.
• Candidates with malignancies at the time of entry to service are declared unfit.
• Candidates with transplanted organs are declared unfit. An exception is made only for a corneal transplant.
• These were some of the criteria which will surely guide you in your UPSC journey. Now it's time for you to start as wise people believe that the early you start, the early you get results.

These were some of the criteria which will surely guide you in your UPSC journey. Now it's time for you to start as wise people believe that the early you start, the early you get results.