About the Exam

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will conduct the Special Class Railway Apprentices' Examination (SCRA 2013) on 20th January 2013 for recruitment to the Special Class Apprentices in the Mechanical Department of the Indian Railways for 42 vacancies.

The selected candidates have to undergo a four-year rigorous training programme in Mechanical Engineering, for which there is an MoU with BIT, Mesra, Ranchi. The semester system of BIT, Mesra is followed, with workshop training sessions during the holidays at BIT, Mesra. The apprentices get a stipend in the scale of Rs. 4000-4400 with Dearness Allowance, making the final emoluments upto Rs. 7400, apart from medical benefits, privelege passes and PTOs.

After completing these 4 years of training, the candidates join as Indian Railway Services of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) Officers in the Indian Railways.

These SCRAs get a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering after their 4 years of training. This degree is recognised by the AICTE.

The SCRA examination will be held at various centers across the country.


How to Apply for SCRA 2013

Candidates are required to apply only through the online mode. No other mode for submission of application is allowed. Click here to apply online for the SCRA 2013 exam. The Online Application can be filled upto 12th November 2012 till 11.59 pm after which the link will be disabled.


Candidates applying Online (excepting Female/SC/ST/PH candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay a fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One Hundred Only) either by remitting the money in any Branch of SBI by Cash, or by using net banking facility of SBI, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur/State Bank of Hyderabad/State Bank of MyIsore/State Bank of Patiala/State Bank of Travancore or by using Visa/Master Credit/Debit Card.

e-Admission Certificate for SCRA 2013

The eligible candidates shall be issued an e-Admission Certificate three weeks before the commencement of the examination. The e-Admission Certificate will be made available on the UPSC website for being downloaded by candidates. No Admission Certificate will be sent by post. Keep checking this space for updates on the SCRA 2013 e-admission certificate.

All the applicants are required to provide valid & active e-mail IDs while filling up the Online application form as UPSC may use electronic mode (i.e e-mail) for contacting you.

Important Dates for SCRA 2013

Date of Notification:                           13 Oct 2012
Last Date for Receipt of Applications:   12 Nov 2012
Date/Day of Commencement of SCRA 2013 Exam: 20th Jan 2013



Eligibility Criteria for SCRA 2013

(I) Nationality

A candidate must be either :—
(a) A citizen of India, or
(b) a subject of Nepal, or
(c) a subject of Bhutan, or
(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India. or
(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, The United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or from Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate ofeligibility has been issued by the Government of India.


A candidate in whose case a certificate ofeligibility is necessary, may be admitted tothe examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issuedto him by the Government of India.

(II) Age Limits 

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 17 years and must not have attained the age of 21 years on 1st January, 2013, i.e.he/she must have been born not earlier than 2nd January, 1992 and not later than1st January, 1996.

(b) The upper age limit is relaxable as follows :–


(i) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled or a Scheduled Tribe.

(ii) upto a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.‘‘The closing date fixed for the receipt of the application will be treated as the date for determining the OBCstatus (including that of creamy layer)of the candidates.’’

(iii) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from the 1st January, 1980 to the 31st day of December, 1989.

(iv) upto a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof:

(v) upto a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen  including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st January, 2012 and have been released (1) on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st January, 2012) otherwise than by way of dismissal ordischarge on account of misconductor inefficiency, or (2) on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service, or (3) on invalidment.

(vi) Upto a maximum of five years in thecase of  ECOs/SSCOs who havecompleted an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Serviceas on 1st January, 2012 and whoseassignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose casethe Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civilemployment and that they will be released on three month's notice onselection from the date of receipt ofoffer of appointment.

vii) Upto a maximum of 10 years in the case Orthopaedically handicapped persons, OA & OL subcategories only.

(III) Educational Qualifications 

For admission to the examination a candidate–

(a) must have passed in the first or second division, the Intermediate or an equivalent Examination of a University or Board approved by the Government of India with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the examination. Graduates with Mathematics and atleast one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as their degree subjects may also apply; or

(b) must have passed in the first or second divsion, the Higher Secondary(12 years) Examination under 10plus 2 pattern of School Education with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistryas subjects of the examination; or

(c) must have passed the first year Examination under the three year degree course of a university or the first examination of the three year diploma course in Rural Service of the National Council for Rural Higher Education or the third year Examination for promotion to the 4th year of the four year B.A./B.Sc. (Evening College) Course of the Madras University with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the examination provided that before joining the degree/diploma course he/she passed the Higher Secondary Examination or the Pre-University or equivalent examination in the first or second division. Candidates who have passed the first/second year examination under the three-years degree course in the first or second division with Mathematics and either Physics or Chemistry as subjects of the Examination may also apply; provided the first/second year  examination  is conducted by a University; or

(d) must have passed in the first or second division the Pre-Engineering Examination of a University, approved by the Government of India; or

(e) must have passed in the first or second division the Pre-Professional/Pre-Technological Examination of any Indian University or a recognised Board, with Mathematics and at least, one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the examination conducted one year after the Higher Secondary or Pre-University stage; or

(f) must have passed the first year examination under the five year Engineering Degree Course of a University : Provided that before joining the Degree Course, he/she passed the Higher Secondary Examination orpre-University or equivalent Examination in the first or second division. Candidates who have passed the firstyear Examination of the five-year Engineering Degree Course in the firstor second division may also apply provided the first year Examination is conducted by a University; or

(g) must have passed in the first or second division the Pre-Degree Examination of the Universities of Kerala and Calicut with Mathematics and atleast one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the Examination.



(IV) Physical Standards

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Special Class Railway Apprentices, Examination, 2013 as per Regulations given in Appendix-II of the rules for the Special Class Railway Apprentices Examination 2013 published in Gazette of India dated 13th October 2012.


To know the scheme of the SCRA exam, syllabus of the exam etc. click here.

Scheme of the SCRA 2013 Exam

1. The SCRA 2013 examination shall be conducted according to the following plan:
Part I - Written Examination carrying a maximum of 600 marks in the subjects as shown below.
Part II - Personality Test carrying a maximum of 200 marks in respect of only those candidates who are declared qualified on the results of Written Examination.

2. The subjects of the Written Examination under Part I, the time allowed and the maximum marks allotted to each subject/paper shall be as follows:

3. The papers in all the subjects will consist of Objective (multiple choice answer) Type questions only. The Question Papers (Test Booklets) will be set in English only.
4. In the question papers, wherever required, SI units will be used.
5. Question Papers will be approximately of the Intermediate standard.
6. Candidates must write the answers in their own hand. In no circumstances, will they be allowed the help of a scribe to write the answers for them.
7. The Commission have discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination.
8. Candidates are not permitted to use calculators for answering objective type papers (Test Booklets). They should not, therefore, bring the same inside the examination hall.

You can download the details of the syllabus of the SCRA 2013 exam from here (refer to link below pic).

Tagged in MAT MAT test pattern MAT exam AIMA MAT exam structure

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