MARCH 8, 2011, 0800 hours, A1, Sector 24, Noida. Ashish is one among the 400 candidates waiting in a queue to test his potential as an Assistant Commandant Pilot. This is the second occasion when a walk-in recruitment is being conducted by the Indian Coast Guard Selection Board (ICGSB), a relatively new service under the Ministry of Defence.

“Looking at the incredible turnout last year, we called for an open recruitment process for Class-I officers at four centres-Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and now at Noida; and the response is very encouraging,” says DIG MS Dangi, the chairman of ICGSB. Preliminary selection process at Noida continued for seven days, each day for officer positions in different branches. This was followed by assessment of shortlisted candidates by Final Selection Board to be recommended for medical fitness. Final results, based on merit, will be known only by end of May this year.

The walk-in experience
As we get familiar with the recruitment process, we also get to know the aspirations of the candidates. While some are still not clear about Indian Coast Guard (ICG); there are few who are well-informed, prepared and serious about the profession. Niladri Chakravarty from Delhi says “I am much excited about the final outcome to join as a Pilot as the job is immensely satisfying, and being in the defence, the respect you get, is even more”.

The most common response on selection process from the aspirants was that this is the fastest and one of the most candidate-friendly ways to join the defence services. “We are not subject to any cases of loss of application or even going through the hassle of making demand-drafts,” says Prerna Prajapati, a CPL holder trying her luck at ICG. Kajal Roy, Director (Recruitment), at ICG Noida, opines that the selection procedure is indeed a welcome change.

“We are able to save a lot of time and effort in getting quality candidates; moreover walk-in also gives us the opportunity to interact with those who show a lot of interest in the Coast Guard.” Dheeraj S Nagar, another aspirant observed, “This time, the procedure is much more organised and streamlined; we were informed of preliminary selection results in time and kept updated with developments, so it was extremely convenient,” he quips.

The selection procedure from walk-in to final selection takes between 40-90 days depending on your preliminary selection centre and the recommended day of medical examination. Training commences every year on July 1st and February 1st, conducted with the help of Indian Navy.

A look at numbers
This season, Delhi/Noida had the maximum number of candidates walking in (more than twice the number at all three regional centres), followed by Chennai. In all the four places over 5000 candidates walked-in for a stipulated vacancy of 65 Officers, which is likely to go up from 2011. The applicants for General Duty officers were the maximum, primarily due to the eligibility criteria (see Table). This is unlike say for Pilots/Navigators where engineers are not considered. Number of women applicants was also unprecedented.

About Indian Coast Guard
The Indian Coast Guard was established on the 1st of February 1977 as an outcome of the growing awareness of Government of India for the requirement to enforce National Laws in the waters under national jurisdiction and to ensure safety of life and property at sea. It was also considered desirable that these law enforcement responsibilities be undertaken by a service suitably equipped and modelled on Coast Guards of advanced nations like the USA. At that time, the United Nations Convention of Laws of the Seas had also gained momentum extending jurisdiction of coastal states up to 200 nautical miles, i.e. the Exclusive Economic Zone, for economic exploitation of maritime resources. The Maritime Zones of India Act was passed on he 25th of August 1976 wherein India claimed 2.01 million sq km of sea area in which she would have exclusive rights for exploration and exploitation of resources, both living and non-living.

Ships and Crafts
The ICG in 1978 had two old frigates and five small patrol vessels. In a little over three decades, it has attained a force level of 83 ships and craft that includes 6 Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessels, 11 Offshore Patrol Vessels, 15 Fast Patrol Vessels, 13 Inshore Patrol Vessels, 6 Hovercrafts, 19 Interceptor Boats and 11 interceptor crafts. ICG is expected to achieve an effective strength of about 200 surface ships by 2018, which is indicative of the emergence of a new, modern and capable Coast Guard.

The need of the Air wing for ICG was felt from its inception, and as a result, the first aviation unit was commissioned in May 1982 with 2 Chetak helicopters at Goa. At present the ICG has an inventory of 19 Chetak helicopters, 24 Dorniers, 4 Advanced Light Helicopters for coastal surveillance and is expected to have 100 aircraft in next few years including the induction of Medium Range Surveillance Aircraft.

“Seeing the turnout, an open recruitment process has been very encouraging” DIG MS DANGI Chairman, ICG selection board

Organisation and Personnel
The Indian Coast Guard has its Headquarter (HQ) at New Delhi and four regional headquarters that are further sub-divided as district (State) and smaller station units. The four regional HQs are Western, Eastern, North West and Andaman & Nicobar. The Western region with Mumbai as its centre covers the entire coast line from Daman to Kanyakumari including Lakshadweep. The Eastern region, operating from Chennai, comprises coastline from Kanyakumari to Kolkata. By the end of 2012, there will be a total of 42 CG stations, 5 Air Stations and 10 Air Enclaves functioning from various locations along the coast.

The North West Region is the most recent one (2009) with its centre at Gandhi Nagar, primarily to strengthen Joint Coastal Patrolling (JCP) off Gujarat and Maharashtra coast that aims to intensify surveillance to prevent smuggling and infiltration of anti-national elements. Fourth region, Andaman & Nicobar, is headquartered at Port Blair. In all, the ICG, at present has more than 1033 officers and 6500 sailors. The CG Stations are sanctioned based on assessment of vulnerability gaps in coastal security.

Selection of Candidates
There are three levels of induction in the ICG. The first as Group ‘A’ Gazetted Officers, second as Yantriks (technical diploma holders) and third as Naviks or Sailors. The Minister of Defence, Shri AK Antony in response to members of Rajya Sabha (unstarred question no. 2789 dated 21st April 2010) has also stated that “…Steps have been taken to enhance the induction of Officers and Enrolled Personnel to 730 per year. The induction has to be in consonance with creation of infrastructure and induction of assets and equipment”. While we look at the recruitment of Officers in great detail, Table 1 attempts to capture details of all recruitments in ICG.

Officer Positions
Pilot/Navigators: As an officer of the Pilot branch, one gets an opportunity to work at shore Air Stations along the Indian coasts and also embark ships.  ICG operates fixed wing aircraft for surveillance of the exclusive economic zone. In addition, helicopters are embarked on Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) to provide local surveillance and perform search and rescue mission at sea. Operating these aircraft at sea is a challenging task and requires special skills.

General Duty Branch Officers: The command of ships at sea can only be exercised by officers of the General duty (GD) branch. The key functions as a GD officer for you would be to operate weapons, sensors and issue fiat based on the wide sphere of knowledge acquired by you on different kinds of equipment. The safety of the ship and the men would be your responsibility as you take decisions to manoeuvre your ship in war and in peace time operations.

Officers in Technical Branch: Gaining from the expertise you have in the engineering discipline, be it mechanical, automobile or electronics, as an officer it would be your responsibility to keep all the technical equipment serviceable. With the advancement of science and technology one has to be abreast with the latest technology being used in modern ships and aircraft. Officers also get an opportunity to work in shore jobs in CG repair organisations. You would be interspersed with technical training courses of Post Graduation level.

Women in Coast Guard: Women are recruited only as officers in General Duty, GD (Pilot/Navigation) and GD (CPL Holders, Short Service entry) branches. The women officers, as of now, are posted in non-sea going appointments. Unlike other Armed Forces, women officers in Coast Guard have the option to serve till superannuation, except for CPL holders and GD Short service appointment.

Asish, a Permanent Commission Woman Officer who has now served in the ICG for 14 years says working in different functions ranging from logistics to fire-fighting, and administrative to rescue operations are all extremely satisfying. Asish who is from Mumbai started her career when she was single at Andaman and Nicobar islands. Now posted at the Delhi Headquarters, she says “If you believe in yourself and wish to lead a happy life, consider joining the Coast Guard, and you would sail through successfully”.

* Age in years as on 1st day of the month of scheduled basic training

Officers' Selection The recruitment provcedure is quicker systematic and friendly. Assessment is two-fold: appearing before Perliminary (PSB) & Final Selection Board (FSB)   STEP 1: WALK IN The recruitment for Assistant Commandants started between 8-11 a.m. at Noida, as more and more candidates queued-up for registration. This went on for 7 days for different branches.   STEP 2: REGISTRATION PROCESS Involved preliminary verification of documents that includes original mark sheets, testimonials and relevant certificates. A quiet affair that helps the candidates to ease out    STEP 3: WRITTEN TEST Practise well for both verbal and non-verbal test, as one had to attempt 45 questions in 22 minutes. Those who succeeded in the 1st were asked to appear in 2nd in a span of 1-hour.   STEP 4: FINAL STAGES Shorlisted candidates need to appear for a Picture Perception and Discussion Test that assesses one’s mental ability. One now awaits announcement of his/her name for FSB.   STEP 5: FINAL SELECTION Board divided into three: Psychological Test, Group Task & Personal Interview, the FSB attempts to extract every capability of a candidate before recommending for medical fitness.

 

Published in the May 2011 issue of Competition360 magazine