NDA or CDS: How Are They Different From Each Other?

Union Public Services Commissions are responsible for conducting both military-related exams such as NDA & CDS Exam. Generally, aspirants do get confused in the context of UPSC NDA Salary, perk, training, promotion, and so on. Though the factor cannot be ignored NDA and CDS exams have a huge difference between each other because of salary. 

Aspirants who have always wanted to serve the nation can go for this exam. NDA stands for National Defence Academy, which means it is all about the joint services academy of IAF. Here, cadets coming from three prominent forces called Army, Navy, and the Air Force are trained together. Once they are trained then they are allowed to join respective academies for further training. 

On the other hand, CDS stands for Combined Defence Services in which ideal candidates are recruited for Indian Military Academy, OFA, INA, and IAFA. 

• Eligibility Criteria For NDA Vs CDS 

Have you been wondering about the eligibility criteria for NDA vs CDS? Here, we are going to mention everything in a detailed manner. 

If you just accomplished class, 12 then you can go for NDA. However, if you are supposed to participate in the CDS exam, Candidates are required to accomplish graduation. It means you need to see here what goes with your convenience. Talking more about the NDA eligibility, you cannot apply for it if you are a woman. On the other hand, male and female candidates are allowed to get appeared in the CDS exam. 

Talking about the CDS and UPSC NDA Selection Process, both are the same indeed. You need to pass an underwritten exam and SBB interview to get qualified. Whether you want to get into NDA or CDS, you need to go through the same interview for both job posts. Candidates will be getting INR 21,000 every month. 

These exams are conducted two times a year. It means if you are not prepared to attend the exam you may go-ahead for the next exam. 

Training for NDA will be for 4-4.5 years. On the other hand, the training will be for 18 months for IMA Cadets. Talking about the training of NDA, there will be for 3 years at NDA, and 1 year would be especially for cadets in the Army. On the other hand, it would be for 30-40 months for Navy Officers. If you want to go for Naval Cadets, then you would need to go for 3yrs at NDA and one Year at NA also known as Naval Academy. On the other hand, it would be for 74 months for Air Force Officers. If you want to be an AF Cadet then you need to go for 3 years of training at NDA and one & ½ Yrs. at AFA located in a beautiful city called Hyderabad. 

You might be wondering about the training centers. Here, we would like to tell you. There is a National Defence Academy located in Pune, IMA situated in Dehradun, INA in Ezhimala, and IAFA located in Hyderabad. And for CDA training, there are prominent training centers such as IMA situated in Dehradun, INA  Ezhimala especially for Navy Cadets, IAF Academy located in Hyderabad for officers of Air Force and Officers Training Academy in Chennai. 

The next on the list is what degree you probably want. If you want to be an Army Cadets in NDA then you need to hold a degree of B.SC/B.Sc/BA/B.Tech degree. If you want to be a Naval Cadet then you need to carry a B.Tech Degree. And you need to hold a B. Tech degree if you are supposed to be an Air Force Cadet. Talking about CDA, you need to hold PG Diploma in Military as well as Defence Management if you want to be an Army Cadets in IMA. You also need to hold a graduation diploma in Defence Management as Strategic Studies if you want to be in OTA Chennai. 

Once you are done with the training, you will be called Lieutenant indeed. The fact cannot be ignored that it would be feeling you quite proud and satisfied. Have you been wondering about the stipend? It would be 21K fixed for both job posts whether you want to go for NDA or CDA. 

Conclusion 

After knowing both aspects, it becomes easy to make the right decision. Hope the shared information has helped you enough to know more about this. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to go ahead and choose the right field you want to go into so that you could have a bright picture of your career.