The Staff Selection Commission will hold a competitive examination for recruitment to the Group C posts viz. Lower Divisional Clerk/ Junior Secretariat Assistant, and Data Entry Operators for various Ministries/ Departments/ Offices of the Government of India and various Constitutional Bodies/ Statutory Bodies/ Tribunals, etc. The details of the examination are as under:

Pay Scale:

Lower Division Clerk (LDC)/ Junior Secretariat Assistant (JSA): Pay Level-2 (Rs. 19,900-63,200). 
Data Entry Operator (DEO): Pay Level-4(Rs. 25,500-81,100) and Level-5(Rs. 29,200-92,300).
Data Entry Operator, Grade ‘A’: Pay Level-4(Rs. 25,500-81,100).

Vacancies:

Tentative vacancies: There are approx. 4500 vacancies. However, firm vacancies will be determined in due course. Updated vacancies, if any, along with Post-wise & category-wise vacancies will be made available on the website of the Commission (https://ssc.nic.in> Candidate’s Corner> Tentative Vacancy) in due course. Candidates may note that State-wise/ Zone-wise vacancies are not collected by the Commission.

Reservation:

Reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Ex-servicemen (ESM), and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), etc. categories is available as per extant Govt. Orders.

The Commission makes the selection of candidates in pursuance to the vacancies reported by the User Departments concerned for various posts. The Commission does not have any role in deciding the number of vacancies in any User Department. Implementation of reservation policy, maintaining reservation roster and earmarking of vacancies for different categories come under the domain of the User Departments.

Nationality/ Citizenship:

A candidate must be either: (a) a citizen of India, (b) a subject of Nepal, (c) a subject of Bhutan, or (d) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania(Formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

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

A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary may be admitted to the Examination but the offer of appointment will be given only after, the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him (hereinafter may be read as ‘him/ her) by the Government of India.

Age Limit (As of 01-01-2022):

The age limit for the posts is 18-27 years as of 01-01-2022 i.e. Candidates born not before 02-01-1995 and not later than 01-01-2004 are eligible to apply.

Essential Educational Qualifications (As of 04-01-2023):

For LDC/ JSA and DEO/ DEO Grade ‘A’: Candidates must have passed the 12th Standard or equivalent examination from a recognized Board or University.

The candidate must possess Essential Qualification on or before the cut-off date i.e. 04-01-2023.

As per the Ministry of Human Resource Development Notification dated 10-06-2015 published in the Gazette of India all the degrees/ diplomas/ certificates awarded through Open and Distance Learning mode of education by the Universities established by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature, Institutions Deemed to be Universities under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 and Institutions of National Importance declared under an Act of Parliament stand automatically recognized for the purpose of employment to posts and services under the Central Government provided they have been approved by the Distance Education Bureau, University Grants Commission. Accordingly, unless such degrees are recognized for the relevant period when the candidates acquired the qualification, they will not be accepted for the purpose of Educational Qualification. In case of the candidates possessing such degrees/ diplomas/ certificates awarded through Open and Distance Learning modes of education, such candidates shall also produce approval given to the University by the Distance Education Bureau, University Grants Commission for the relevant period at the time of Document Verification.

 As per UGC (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations, 2017 published in official Gazette on 23-06-2017, under Part-III (8) (v), the programmes in engineering, medicine, dental, nursing, pharmacy, architecture and physiotherapy etc. are not permitted to be offered under Open and Distance Learning mode. However, pursuant to the Hon’ble Supreme Court Order dated 11-03-2019 in MA No. 3092/2018 in W.P. (C) No. 382/2018 titled Mukul Kumar Sharma & others Vs AICTE and others, B. Tech. degree/ diploma in Engineering awarded by IGNOU to the students who were enrolled up to academic year 2009-10 shall be treated as valid, wherever applicable.

Document Verification (DV) will be conducted by the User Departments/ Organizations after declaration of the final result. Candidates will be required to produce the relevant Certificates such as Mark sheets, Provisional Certificates etc. for completion of Intermediate/ Higher Secondary/ 10+2/ Senior Secondary in original as proof of having acquired the minimum educational qualification on or before the stipulated date, when such certificates are sought by concerned Indenting Departments/ Organizations for the purpose of document verification. Otherwise, their candidature will be cancelled. The candidates who are able to prove, by documentary evidence, that the result of the qualifying examination was declared on or before the cut-off date and he has been declared passed, will also be considered to meet the educational qualification.

How to Apply:

 Applications must be submitted in only online mode at the website of SSC Headquarters i.e. https://ssc.nic.in. For detailed instructions, please refer to Annexure-III and Annexure-IV. Sample proforma of One-time Registration and online Application Form are attached as Annexure-IIIA and Annexure-IVA respectively.

In the online Application Form, candidates are required to upload the scanned colour passport size photograph in JPEG format (20 KB to 50 KB). Image dimension of the photograph should be about 3.5 cm (width) x 4.5 cm (height). In compliance of the Order dated 05.03.2020 of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of Shantanu Kumar & Ors. [Writ Petition (C) No.234 of 2018], the photograph of the candidate should not be more than three months old from the date of publication of notice of the examination. The Photograph should be without cap and spectacles. The frontal view of the face should be clearly visible.

Before submitting the Application Form, candidate must ensure that the photograph is uploaded as per the given instructions. If the photograph is not uploaded by the candidate in the desired format, his application/ candidature will be rejected or cancelled. Specimen of photographs delineating photograph acceptable/ photograph not acceptable is also given at Annexure-V.

Last date and time for submission of online applications is 04-01-2023 (23:00).

Candidates are advised in their own interest to submit online applications much before the closing date and not to wait till the last date to avoid the possibility of disconnection/ inability or failure to login to the SSC website on account of heavy load on the website during the closing days.

The Commission will not be responsible for the candidates not being able to submit their applications within the last date on account of the aforesaid reasons or for any other reason beyond the control of the Commission.

Before submission of the online application, candidates must check through Preview/ Print option that they have filled correct details in each field of the form.

Application Fee:

Fee payable: Rs 100/- (Rs one hundred only).

Women candidates and candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), and Ex-servicemen (ESM) eligible for reservation are exempted from payment of a fee.

Fee can be paid online through BHIM UPI, Net Banking or by using Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, RuPay Credit or Debit cards or in cash at SBI Branches by generating SBI Challan.

Online fees can be paid by candidates up to 05-01-2023 (23:00 hours). However, candidates who wish to make cash payment through the challan of SBI, may make Page 10 of 70 payment in cash at the Branches of SBI within the working hours of bank up to 06- 01-2023 provided the challan has been generated by them before 04-01-2023 (23:00 hours).

Candidates who are not exempted from fee payment must ensure that their fee has been deposited with SSC. If the fee is not received by SSC, status of the Application Form is shown as ‘Incomplete’ and this information is printed on the top of the printout of online Application Form. Further, status of fee payment can be verified at the ‘Payment Status’ link provided in the candidate’s login screen. Such applications which remain incomplete due to non-receipt of fee will be SUMMARILY REJECTED and no request for consideration of such applications and fee payment after the period specified in the Notice of Examination shall be entertained.

The fee once paid shall not be refunded under any circumstances nor will it be adjusted against any other examination or selection.

Centers of Examination:

A candidate must indicate the Centre(s) in the online Application Form in which he desires to take the examination. Details about the Examination Centres and Regional Offices under whose jurisdiction these Examination Centres are located are as follows:

Central Region (CR)/  Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Eastern Region (ER)/  Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sikkim, and West Bengal.
Karnataka, Kerala Region (KKR)/ Lakshadweep, Karnataka, and Kerala.
Madhya Pradesh Sub-Region (MPR)/ Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
North Eastern Region (NER)/ Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.
Northern Region (NR)/ Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.
North Western Sub-Region (NWR)/ Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and Punjab.
Southern Region (SR)/ Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
Western Region (WR)/ Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

A candidate has to give options for three centers, in the order of priority, within the same Region. No request for a change of center at any stage/ Tier(s) of the examination will be considered later under any circumstances. Hence, the candidates should select the centers, carefully and indicate the same correctly in their applications.

Scheme of Examination:

The Computer Based Examination will be conducted in two tiers as indicated below:

1 Tier-I
2 Tier-II

Scheme of Tier-I Examination:

English Language (Basic Knowledge) 25/ 50

General Intelligence 25/ 50                                                                                  60 Minutes

Quantitative Aptitude (Basic Arithmetic Skill) 25/ 50

General Awareness 25/ 50

There will be a negative marking of 0.50 marks for each wrong answer. Candidates are, therefore, advised to keep this in mind while answering the questions.

Scheme of Tier-II Examination:

Tier II will include the following three sections having two modules each:

Section-I: 

Module-I: Mathematical Abilities
Module II: Reasoning and General Intelligence.

Section-II:

Module-I: English Language and Comprehension
Module II: General Awareness

Section-III:

Module-I: Computer Knowledge Test
Module-II: Skill Test/ Typing Test

Tier II will be conducted in two sessions - Session –I & Session II, on the same day. Session-I will include conducting Section-I, Section II, and Module-I of Section III. Session II will include conducting Module II of Section III. It will be mandatory for the candidates to qualify for all the sections of Tier II.

Skill Test for Data Entry Operator:

Skill Test is mandatory for Data Entry Operators. No candidate is exempted from appearing in the Skill Test.

Part A - Skill Test for the post of DEO/ DEO Grade 'A’: ‘Data Entry Speed of 8,000 (Eight Thousand) Key Depressions per hour on Computer’ will be adjudged on the basis of the correct entry of words/ key depressions as per the given passage. The duration of the Test will be 15 (Fifteen) minutes and printed matter in English containing about 2000-2200 key depressions would be given to each candidate who would enter the same in the Computer. The passage to be entered in the Computer may also be displayed on the computer screen.

 Candidates eligible for a scribe as per Para 8.1 and 8.2 will be given Page 16 of 70 compensatory time of 5 minutes. Therefore, duration of Skill Test for such candidates will be 20 minutes.

Part B - Typing Test for other posts i.e. LDC/ JSA:

The medium of Typing Test will be Hindi or English. The candidates will have to opt for the medium of Typing Test (i.e. either Hindi or English) in the online Application Form.

The choice of Typing Test given by the candidate in the online Application Form shall be treated as final and no change in the medium of Typing Test will be entertained later.

Candidates opting for English medium should have a typing speed of 35 words per minute (w.p.m.) and those opting for Hindi medium should have typing speed of 30 words per minute (w.p.m.). 35 w.p.m. and 30 w.p.m. correspond to about 10500 key depressions per hour and about 9000 key depressions per hour respectively.

The speed will be adjudged on the accuracy of typing on the Computer of a given text passage in 10 minutes.

Candidates eligible for a scribe as per Para 8.1 and 8.2 will be given compensatory time of 5 minutes. Therefore, the duration of Typing Test for such candidates will be 15 minutes.

Passage Dictators will be provided to those VH candidates for the Typing test who have opted for scribe in the online Application Form. The Passage Dictator will read out the passage to the VH candidate within the allotted time period.

Indicative Syllabus (Tier-I):

 English Language: Spot the Error, Fill in the Blanks, Synonyms/ Homonyms, Antonyms, Spellings/ Detecting misspelled words, Idioms & Phrases, one word substitution, Improvement of Sentences, Active/ Passive Voice of Verbs, Conversion into Direct/ Indirect narration, Shuffling of Sentence parts, Shuffling of Sentences in a passage, Cloze Passage, Comprehension Passage.

General Intelligence: It would include questions of both verbal and non-verbal types. The test will include questions on Semantic Analogy, Symbolic operations, Symbolic/ Number Analogy, Trends, Figural Analogy, Space Orientation, Semantic Classification, Venn Diagrams, Symbolic/ Number Page 17 of 70 Classification, Drawing inferences, Figural Classification, Punched hole/ pattern-folding & unfolding, Semantic Series, Figural Pattern-folding and completion, Number Series, Embedded figures, Figural Series, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Emotional Intelligence, Word Building, Social Intelligence, Coding and de-coding, Numerical operations.

Quantitative Aptitude:
Number Systems: Computation of Whole Numbers, Decimals and Fractions, and Relationship between numbers.
Fundamental arithmetical operations: Percentages, Ratio and Proportion, Square roots, Averages, Interest (Simple and Compound), Profit and Loss, Discount, Partnership Business, Mixture and Allegation, Time and distance, Time and work.
Algebra: Basic algebraic identities of School Algebra and Elementary surds (simple problems) and Graphs of Linear Equations.
Geometry: Familiarity with elementary geometric figures and facts: Triangle and its various kinds of centers, Congruence and similarity of triangles, Circle and its chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords of a circle, common tangents to two or more circles.
Mensuration: Triangle, Quadrilaterals, Regular Polygons, Circle, Right Prism, Right Circular Cone, Right Circular Cylinder, Sphere, Hemispheres, Rectangular Parallelepiped, Regular Right Pyramid with triangular or square Base.
Trigonometry: Trigonometry, Trigonometric ratios, Complementary angles, Height and distances (simple problems only) Standard Identities like sin2𝜃 + Cos2𝜃=1, etc.,
 Statistical Charts: Use of Tables and Graphs: Histogram, Frequency polygon, Bar-diagram, Pie-chart.

General Awareness: Questions are designed to test the candidate’s general awareness of the environment around him and its application to society. Questions are also designed to test knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspect as may be expected of an educated person. The test will also include questions relating to India and its neighboring countries especially pertaining to History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, General policy, and scientific research.

For VH candidates of 40% and above visual disability, there will be no component of Maps/ Graphs/ Diagrams/ Statistical Data in the General Intelligence and Quantitative Aptitude parts.

Indicative Syllabus (Tier-II):

Module-I of Session-I (Mathematical Abilities):

Number Systems: Computation of Whole Numbers, Decimals and Fractions, and Relationship between numbers.
Fundamental arithmetical operations: Percentages, Ratio and Proportion, Square roots, Averages, Interest (Simple and Compound), Profit and Loss, Discount, Partnership Business, Mixture and Allegation, Time and distance, Time and work.
Algebra: Basic algebraic identities of School Algebra and Elementary surds (simple problems) and Graphs of Linear Equations.
Geometry: Familiarity with elementary geometric figures and facts: Triangle and its various kinds of centers, Congruence and similarity of triangles, Circle and its chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords of a circle, common tangents to two or more circles.
Mensuration: Triangle, Quadrilaterals, Regular Polygons, Circle, Right Prism, Right Circular Cone, Right Circular Cylinder, Sphere, Hemispheres, Rectangular Parallelepiped, Regular Right Pyramid with triangular or square Base.
Trigonometry: Trigonometry, Trigonometric ratios, Complementary angles, Height and distances (simple problems only) Standard Identities like sin2𝜃 + Cos2𝜃=1, etc.,
 Statistical Charts: Use of Tables and Graphs: Histogram, Frequency polygon, Bar-diagram, Pie-chart; Measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode, standard deviation; calculation of simple probabilities.

Module II of Section-I (Reasoning and General Intelligence):

Questions of both verbal and non-verbal types. These will include questions on Semantic Analogy, Symbolic operations, Symbolic/ Number Analogy, Trends, Figural Analogy, Space Orientation, Semantic Classification, Venn Diagrams, Symbolic/ Number Classification, Drawing inferences, Figural Classification, Punched hole/ pattern-folding & unfolding, Semantic Series, Figural Pattern-folding and completion, Number Series, Embedded figures, Figural Series, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Emotional Intelligence, Word Building, Social Intelligence, Coding and de-coding, Numerical operations, Other subtopics if any.

Module-I of Section-II (English Language And Comprehension):
Vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, synonyms, antonyms, and their correct usage; Spot the Error, Fill in the Blanks, Synonyms/ Homonyms, Antonyms, Spellings/ Detecting misspelled words, Idioms & Phrases, One word substitution, Improvement of Sentences, Active/ Passive Voice of Verbs, Conversion into Direct/ Indirect narration, Shuffling of Sentence parts, Shuffling of Sentences in a passage, Cloze Passage, Comprehension Passage. To test comprehension, two or more paragraphs will be given and questions based on those will be asked. At least one paragraph should be a simple one based on a book or a story and the other paragraph should be based on current affairs editorial or a report.

Module II of Section II (General Awareness):
Questions are designed to test the candidates’ general awareness of the environment around them and its application to society. Questions are also designed to test knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspect as may be expected of an educated person. The test will also include questions relating to India and its neighboring countries especially pertaining to History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, General policy, and Page 19 of 70 scientific research.

Module-I of Section-III of Paper-I (Computer Proficiency):
Computer Basics: Organization of a computer, Central Processing Unit (CPU), input/ output devices, computer memory, memory organization, back- up devices, PORTs, Windows Explorer, and Keyboard shortcuts.
Software: Windows Operating system including basics of Microsoft Office like MS word, MS Excel and PowerPoint, etc.
Working with the Internet and e-mails: Web Browsing & Searching, Downloading & Uploading, Managing an E-mail Account, e-Banking.
Basics of networking and cyber security: Networking devices and protocols, Network and information security threats (like hacking, virus, worms, Trojans, etc.), and preventive measures.

Document Verification (DV):

Candidates will have to submit copies of various documents as given below at the time of Document Verification by the User Departments/ Organizations:

• Matriculation/ Secondary Certificate.
• Educational Qualification Certificate.
• Order/ letter in respect of equivalent Educational Qualifications claimed, indicating the Authority (with number and date) under which it has been so treated, in respect of equivalent clause in Essential Qualifications, if a candidate is claiming a particular qualification as an equivalent qualification.
• Caste/ Category Certificate, if belongs to reserved categories.
• Persons with Disabilities Certificate in the required format, if applicable.

For Ex-Servicemen (ESM):

• Undertaking as per Annexure-VIII.
• Serving Defence Personnel Certificate as per Annexure-VII, if applicable.
• Discharge Certificate, if discharged from the Armed Forces,
• Relevant Certificate if seeking any age relaxation.
•  No Objection Certificate, in the case already employed in Government/ Government undertakings.
•  For a candidate who claims a change in name after matriculation on marriage or remarriage or divorce, etc. the following documents shall be submitted:
• In case of marriage of women: Photocopy of Husband’s passport showing names of spouses or an attested copy of marriage certificate issued by the Registrar of Marriage or an Affidavit from husband and wife along with a joint photograph duly sworn before the Oath Commissioner;
• In case of re-marriage of women: Divorce Deed/ Death certificate as the case may be in respect of first spouse; and photocopy of present husband’s passport showing names of spouse or an attested copy of marriage certificate issued by the Registrar of Marriage or an Affidavit Page 22 of 70 from the husband and wife along with joint photograph duly sworn before the Oath Commissioner.
• In case of divorce of women: Certified copy of Divorce Decree and Deed Poll/Affidavit duly sworn before the Oath Commissioner.
• In other circumstances for change of name for both male and female: Deed Poll/Affidavit duly sworn before the Oath Commissioner and paper cuttings of two leading daily newspapers in original (One daily newspaper should be of the area of applicant’s permanent and present address or nearby area) and Gazette Notification.
• Any other document specified in the Admission Certificate for DV.

Mode of Selection:

Minimum qualifying marks in Tier-I, Section-I, Section-II & Module-I of SectionIII of Tier-II Examination are as follows:

1. UR: 30%
2. OBC/ EWS: 25%
3. All other categories: 20%

• Candidates will be shortlisted for Tier-II Examination on the basis of their performance in the Tier-I Examination. Normalized scores of candidates will be used to determine merit and for final selection.
• There may be separate category-wise cut-offs in Tier-I and subsequent Tiers for different posts i.e. (i) DEO/ DEO Grade 'A' and (ii) LDC/ JSA.
• Tier-II Examination will be conducted for all the candidates qualified in Tier-I. In Tier-II, all the candidates will be required to appear in all three sections.
• In Tier-II, it will be mandatory for the candidates to qualify all the sections.
• Based on the aggregate performance in Section-I and Section-II of Tier-II Examination, candidates will be shortlisted for evaluation of Section-III of Tier-II Examination. The candidates who are not qualified in Section-I + Section-II will not be eligible for evaluation of Section-III and they will not be considered for further selection process.
•  Section-III of Tier-II is qualifying in nature, in other words both modules i.e. Computer Knowledge Test and Skill Test/ Typing Test are qualifying in nature. Skill Test for DEOs is mandatory for all the qualified candidates. Typing Test for posts other than DEOs is mandatory for all candidates except those who are exempted from appearing in the Typing Test as per Para-14.9.7.6.7.
• Preference for various posts and departments will be taken from the candidates through Online Option Form on the website of the Commission before declaration of final result. A candidate will not be considered for a Post and Ministry/ Department/ Organization if he has not indicated his preference for it. Options once submitted shall be treated as final and will not be changed subsequently under any circumstances. Therefore, candidates must be careful in the exercise of such options.