OPSC Assistant Section Officer Recruitment 2026 — 340 Secretariat Cadre Vacancies

Advertisement No. 15 of 2026–27 · Odisha Public Service Commission · Notification dated 5 November 2026

The Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) has invited online applications for 340 Assistant Section Officer (ASO), Group-B, posts in the Odisha Secretariat Service cadre under the Home Department, Government of Odisha. These are government service vacancies, not an apprenticeship, temporary data-entry engagement or private-sector office appointment. The advertised initial basic pay is ₹35,400 at Level 9, Cell 1 under the Odisha Revised Scales of Pay Rules, 2017, with admissible allowances as sanctioned by the State Government.

For a candidate deciding whether to apply, three facts are decisive. First, the minimum qualification is a recognised bachelor's degree in any discipline with adequate computer-application knowledge; the notice additionally prescribes proficiency in Odia. Second, the selection is a 400-mark, three-paper written examination, followed by a 50-mark qualifying computer-practical test. Third, the last time for both submitting the online form and paying the examination fee is 5:00 PM on 30 November 2026, not midnight.

🗓️ Dates and application window

Applications are accepted online only through the OPSC website. An incomplete application or payment after the notified closing time is not protected by an earlier registration attempt. OPSC has expressly asked candidates to submit without waiting for the last hour and to keep the final submitted form for document verification.

🏛️ Vacancy distribution — the 340 seats are not all interchangeable

The Home Department requisition covers 340 vacancies, including backlog positions. Within this total, 114 positions are earmarked for women across the four vertical reservation categories. They are not 114 additional vacancies. The category-wise figures below come from the original vacancy table, including the women's allocation in brackets.

🥧 Vertical reservation composition — 340 Assistant Section Officer vacancies

📊 Women's earmarked seats within each reservation category

The 114 women's seats are distributed inside the 340-seat figure and must not be added again. Likewise, an applicant from a reserved community may compete for an unreserved seat wherever the applicable recruitment rules permit; the UR column identifies the nature of the vacancy, not a separate citizenship category.

♿ Sports, Ex-Servicemen and PwD reservation — counted within the same 340 seats

The advertisement identifies further horizontal reservations, meaning the successful applicant's appointment is adjusted against the applicable social category. These are not extra seats over and above 340.

📊 PwD reservation by disability group — 25 identified positions

The PwD groups include current and backlog vacancies. Category II has 3 current plus 6 backlog posts; Category IV has 2 current plus 8 backlog posts. This explains why merely reading the current-vacancy column would understate the notified PwD opportunity. The notice also provides a functional-classification table for disability suitability: applicants should match the category and permitted functional abilities to their own permanent disability certificate. A temporary disability certificate is not accepted for the PwD reservation claim.

🎓 Education, computer knowledge and Odia — all three matter

A candidate must hold a Bachelor's Degree in any discipline from a recognised university, or an accepted equivalent qualification, and possess adequate knowledge of Computer Application as prescribed. The advertisement does not restrict applicants to Commerce, Arts, Science or a specific engineering branch. A specialised computer degree is therefore not stated as the only qualifying path. However, the subsequent practical computer test makes basic proficiency genuinely important.

Odia language is an independent eligibility condition. An applicant must be able to speak, read and write Odia and satisfy at least one of the acceptable educational/test routes given in the notice:

1. Passed Middle School examination with Odia as a language subject; or
2. Passed Matriculation or equivalent examination with Odia as the medium of examination in a non-language subject; or
3. Passed Odia as a language subject in the final examination of Class VII or above; or
4. Passed the Middle English School Standard test in Odia conducted by the School and Mass Education Department, Odisha.

Where the High School record does not show the relevant Odia qualification, the notice provides alternative certification arrangements through the recognised school authorities or an Odia Test Pass Certificate. Candidates should arrange that proof before the application deadline, rather than assuming oral fluency alone will be accepted as a document.

Age as on 1 January 2026

A candidate qualifying under more than one of the general five-year relaxation grounds cannot indiscriminately add them together: the notice states that only one such age-relaxation benefit is to be taken in that situation. The 15-year combined PwD-plus-reserved-community provision is separately and expressly specified. The age already recorded in the HSC/equivalent certificate is the basis for age verification; it cannot be revised for convenience.

💰 Pay, examination fee and refund conditions

Pay: The appointment begins in Level 9, Cell 1, ₹35,400 basic pay under the 2017 Odisha pay matrix. The advertisement allows the usual DA and other Government-sanctioned allowances but does not guarantee a fixed monthly take-home amount. ₹35,400 is therefore the starting basic, not an assured net salary or a contractor's consolidated fee.

The ₹700 fee is refundable only to candidates who actually appear in the Written Examination. Merely paying, registering or being issued an admission certificate does not satisfy the stated refund condition. OPSC will return eligible refunds through the original payment channel, and applicants must provide accurate bank details when requested. The notice explicitly asks candidates to maintain an active bank account and correct account number, IFSC and bank-branch particulars. An applicant exempted from payment does not have a ₹700 refund to claim.

📝 Written examination — 400 marks across three papers

Unlike recruitments where computer skill carries independent final-merit marks, this ASO examination is ranked by the written-paper aggregate only after the candidate passes the practical test. Each of Papers I, II and III must separately meet the prescribed qualifying percentage.

📊 Marks distribution across the three written papers

Negative marking: Each wrong objective answer attracts a 0.25-mark deduction. A correct response earns the marks allotted to that question. The advertisement's Appendix I places the objective questions in Papers I–III; the computer skill paper is a practical test, not a fourth 100-question MCQ paper.

Paper-wise minimum percentage: UR and SEBC: 35% in each paper; SC and ST: 30%; PwD: 28%. For an Ex-Serviceman or sports candidate, the minimum follows the community category (UR/SEBC/SC/ST) to which that candidate belongs. These are qualification thresholds, not a promise of selection: ranking and the skill-test shortlist remain competitive.

💻 Computer Skill Test — qualifying, but not optional

The practical test carries 50 marks, comprises 5 tasks and allows 1 hour. Appendix I names Windows, MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, MS Access and Internet Services. The qualifying threshold is at least 40%, i.e. 20 out of 50. Only candidates with adequate written-paper performance are shortlisted to sit the test; passing it is necessary for inclusion in final merit, even though its score is not added to the 400-mark merit ranking.

Candidates must be careful about the distinction between knowing computer applications as an eligibility requirement and demonstrating those skills in the practical test. A degree certificate cannot substitute for success in the actual skill assessment.

How the Skill Test shortlist works

The notice differentiates its shortlist ratio by the number of vacancies:

• For a recruitment with five or fewer vacancies, candidates may be shortlisted at approximately twice the number of posts, with a minimum of five.
• Where vacancies are more than five, shortlisting is approximately 1.5 times the vacancy count, rounded up where needed.
• Additional concessions for filling PwD backlog positions are described in the notice. Shortlist numbers are subject to qualifying candidates actually being available in a given category.

For this 340-post drive, the detailed category-by-category skill-test list will be prepared under OPSC's stated rules. The eventual Skill Test roll list should not be assumed to contain exactly 510 people across every category without OPSC's official publication.

🏆 Final merit, tie-break and documentary scrutiny

A candidate must clear the written papers and qualify in the practical computer test. Among skill-test-qualified candidates, the written-examination aggregate (maximum 400) determines final ranking. If two applicants have the same written total, the one with higher marks in General Knowledge / Paper I ranks higher. If Paper I marks are also equal, the older candidate ranks ahead. OPSC will publish the final select list and individual marks in the manner described in the advertisement.

OPSC may require original document verification, certificates for reservations and an employer's No Objection Certificate where applicable. Government servants are eligible subject to the rules, and should be ready to furnish their NOC for scrutiny. The post is also subject to character/antecedent checks, medical fitness, truthfulness of the application and the prescribed probation rules. Selection in a list does not by itself create an unconditional right to an appointment order.

📍 Written examination across 33 Odisha zones

The commission lists 33 examination zones including Balasore, Brahmapur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Angul, Baragada, Bhadrak, Balangir, Boudh, Debagada, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jeypore, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Kendrapada, Kendujhar, Khordha, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Nayagada, Puri, Rayagada, Rourkela, Sonepur and Sundargarh**. Candidates select two zones in order of preference during the online application. OPSC may allot a different centre because of administrative requirements; requests for changing an assigned centre are not entertained.

17 January 2027 is only the tentative written-examination date. Final reporting time, paper session timings, centre addresses and admission-certificate instructions are to be announced separately by OPSC. No applicant should present this tentative date as evidence that a final admission certificate has already been issued.

🧾 Application procedure — steps that matter

1. Visit the OPSC official website, choose the advertisement 15 of 2026–27, and use the online application system. The notice is explicit that applications through other modes are rejected.
2. Create or use the official Permanent Public Service Account Number (PPSAN) in accordance with OPSC instructions. Do not register and apply multiple times using separate PPSAN accounts; the notice warns against duplicate applications.
3. Enter your name and age exactly as supported by your HSC/matriculation record, and choose the correct social category. The community category once selected is treated as final and is not freely changed afterward.
4. Record graduation details, university, Odia qualification and computer knowledge accurately. Choose two examination zones in your order of preference.
5. Upload the scanned recent passport photograph, full signature and left-thumb impression in the format required by the online form, along with relevant certificates. An incomplete upload can lead to rejection even if the registration itself is successful.
6. Pay ₹700 online if you are not within the stated SC/ST/PwD exemptions. Confirm the payment result; an unfinished payment can make an otherwise eligible application incomplete.
7. Submit finally before 30 November at 5 PM, verify all particulars, then save the completed application. Print and sign the final form because it may be required when originals are verified.

Document checklist from the original advertisement

A SEBC non-creamy-layer certificate must meet the validity and date condition in the notice; an ordinary OBC certificate is not accepted instead of Odisha SEBC for a SEBC-reservation claim. The notice also explains that women claiming reservation within a caste/community category must furnish the relevant community status by birth; a change acquired solely through marriage is not accepted as the basis of caste reservation.

📅 Recruitment timeline — confirmed steps versus later announcements

No separate final admit-card date, skill-test date, interview programme or result release date appears in this advertisement. The published selection process contains written examination and computer skill test — no interview stage is announced.

🔍 The decisive applicant checks

If you are a graduate but have no Odia proof: confirm one of the permitted school/test routes before paying. If you claim SEBC: check Odisha-specific certificate validity; simply holding an all-India OBC certificate is not enough. If you claim PwD reservation: ensure that the certificate is permanent, states at least 40% disability and matches the notified group and functional classification. If you seek a fee refund: attendance in the written exam, not payment alone, determines the announced entitlement. If you already satisfy the academic criteria: build preparation around the three-paper written ranking, while keeping enough Windows/MS Office proficiency to clear the qualifying practical exam.

Official recruitment information: Odisha Public Service Commission. The original 22-page advertisement is listed under Assistant Section Officer (Advt. No. 15 of 2026–27), dated 5 November 2026. Always use the commission's final programme for exam-centre and candidate-specific instructions.