UPSC allows unmarried women to take NDA and Naval exam

NEW DELHI: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has allowed unmarried women to apply for the national defense academy (NDA) and naval academy exams, according to an official announcement released Friday.

The move follows a Supreme Court order on the issue last month.

UPSC NDA exam is scheduled to be held on November 14.

According to the official statement, in compliance with the Apex court's interim direction, the UPSC has decided to open the application on upsconline. nic. in for this exam to enable "unmarried women candidates only" who are otherwise eligible in terms of nationality, age, educational qualification, etc," the statement said.

Physical standards and the number of vacancies for women candidates would be notified after it is received from the Ministry of Defence, it said.

According to the UPSC release, the application window for women applicants would be available from September 24 to October 8 (until 6 p.m.).

No application will be accepted beyond the prescribed last date/time, i.e., 08.10.2021(till 6 PM) or through any mode other than the aforesaid online mode, it said.

"Women candidates are not required to pay a fee for their application for this examination," the statement added.

The admission of women candidates to the national defence academy and naval academy examination (II) in 2021 will be provisional and subject to the final outcome of a writ petition pending in the Supreme Court, as well as any other order(s) passed by the Supreme Court and action by the Indian government, according to the statement.

The Apex Court on Wednesday rejected the center's plea to defer the first NDA exam for women candidates, saying it doesn't want women to be denied their right. The induction of women cannot be posted by one year," it said.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said, "This won't send the right signal to women after having given them the aspiration. Let's begin from this year."

"We cannot delay things by a year. We gave hope to the girls. We cannot deny them that hope now," said the bench.

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