The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said on Friday it has opened an application window for women candidates to apply for the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination, 2021. “In compliance with the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India’s interim direction permitting the women candidates to take part in the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination (II), 2021 by its order dated 18/08/2021 in WP (C). No.1416/2020 filed by Kush KalraVs. UoI& Others, the Union Public Service Commission has decided to open the online portal of application on its website (upsconline.nic.in) for this Examination to enable the unmarried women candidates ONLY by issuing a corrigendum to the Notice No. 10/2021-NDA-II, which was published on 09/06/2021,” UPSC said in a statement.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) which conducts the examination, has opened the online portal of application on its website (upsconline.nic.in) for the examination. As per the UPSC, only unmarried women can appear in this examination.
On September 22, the apex court had rejected the Union government’s plea to defer women’s entry into the NDA and NA. It had submitted that the women candidates will be allowed to participate in the examination from May 2022 session, but the Court had rejected the idea. The court stated that the admission of women cannot be postponed since the military forces are prepared to cope with crises. The court stated that any delay would send the wrong signal to women once they had been granted the aspiration.
Only male candidates who have cleared Class 12 level or its equivalent, and are in the age group of 16-and-a-half and 19 are eligible to apply under the current eligibility criteria. Those who clear the NDA exam are called for interview by the Service Selection Board (SSB), and following a medical exam, candidates are recruited in the army, navy, and air force wings of NDA, and for the INA course for pre-commission training.
