| Conducting body | Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC). Official website ↗ |
|---|---|
| Posts | Junior Engineer (Civil), Water Resources Department, Junior Engineer (Civil), Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department, Junior Engineer (Civil), Directorate of Municipal Administration, Architectural Assistant, Cameraman, Photographer, Sound Recordist, Mechanic and Video Film Editor (Information & Public Relations Department), Junior Draughtsman (Civil) and Tracer (Rural Works) |
| Qualification | Junior Engineer (Civil) needs a diploma in Civil Engineering or an equivalent qualification from an institution recognised in Odisha; the Municipal Administration post also asks for computer literacy. Architectural Assistant needs a diploma in Architectural Assistantship, and the I&PR posts need +2 with a diploma or degree in the relevant field. Junior Draughtsman (Civil) and Tracer need HSC with an NTC in Draughtsman (Civil) plus computer or AutoCAD skills. Each post's exact rule is in the advertisement. |
| Age limit | 21–42 years on 1 January 2025 (general category) |
| Domicile | See the notification |
| Selection stages | Stage I: Preliminary exam (MCQ, 150 marks); at least 5 times the vacancies go to the main exam (10 times where a post or category has fewer than 10 vacancies) → Stage II: Main written exam, a technical paper for your post (200 marks) → Stage III: Certificate verification for 1.5 times the vacancies (3 times where a post or category has fewer than 10 vacancies) → Final merit list based on the main written exam; preliminary marks break ties |
| Latest notification | CTSRE-2025 detailed advertisement, Advt. No. 5925/OSSC dated 30.12.2025 |
Last checked . Sources
About OSSC CTSRE
OSSC fills technical Group B and Group C posts in Odisha government departments through CTSRE. Most of the 2025 cycle (Advertisement No. 5925/OSSC dated 30.12.2025) is Junior Engineer (Civil) hiring: 606 JE (Civil) vacancies split across Water Resources, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Municipal Administration. The JE, Architectural Assistant and I&PR posts are Group B at Level 9 of the ORSP 2017 pay matrix, while Junior Draughtsman (Civil) is Level 8 and Tracer is Level 5, both Group C.
Eligibility
Age limit
General category: 21–42 years, counted on 1 January 2025.
Age relaxation
- OBC: 5 years
- SC: 5 years
- ST: 5 years
- PwBD: 10 years
- 5 years for SEBC, SC, ST and all women candidates
- 10 years for PwD; PwD candidates from SC and ST get a further 10 years over their category relaxation
- Ex-servicemen: the period of defence service
- Only one relaxation applies if you fall in more than one group
Qualification
Junior Engineer (Civil) needs a diploma in Civil Engineering or an equivalent qualification from an institution recognised in Odisha; the Municipal Administration post also asks for computer literacy. Architectural Assistant needs a diploma in Architectural Assistantship, and the I&PR posts need +2 with a diploma or degree in the relevant field. Junior Draughtsman (Civil) and Tracer need HSC with an NTC in Draughtsman (Civil) plus computer or AutoCAD skills. Each post's exact rule is in the advertisement.
Other conditions
- You must be able to read, write and speak Odia, for example by having passed Middle School with Odia as a language subject.
- Certificates and mark sheets must be in hand by the last date for the online application.
Selection process
- Stage I: Preliminary exam (MCQ, 150 marks); at least 5 times the vacancies go to the main exam (10 times where a post or category has fewer than 10 vacancies)
- Stage II: Main written exam, a technical paper for your post (200 marks)
- Stage III: Certificate verification for 1.5 times the vacancies (3 times where a post or category has fewer than 10 vacancies)
- Final merit list based on the main written exam; preliminary marks break ties
Exam pattern
Preliminary exam
Mode: MCQ, OMR or computer-based · Duration: 150 minutes · Negative marking: 0.25 marks for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | MARKS |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic, data interpretation, logical reasoning and mental ability, current events, computer and internet awareness | 150 |
Main written exam
Duration: 120 minutes
| SUBJECT | MARKS |
|---|---|
| Technical paper for the post applied for | 200 |
OSSC CTSRE syllabus
Preliminary
- Arithmetic (Class 10 standard)
- Data interpretation: charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency
- Logical reasoning and mental ability
- Current events of national and international importance
- Computer and internet awareness
Technical paper: Junior Engineer (Civil)
- Structural mechanics: stresses and strains, beams, columns, shear force and bending moment, deflection, trusses
- Geotechnical engineering: soil properties, permeability, compaction, shear strength, foundations
- Building materials and construction technology
- Estimation and cost evaluation
- Structural design by working stress and limit state methods
- Hydraulics and irrigation engineering
- Highway, railway and bridge engineering
- Water supply and waste water engineering
- Construction management and environmental studies
What they ask
The preliminary paper is general aptitude at Class 10 level: arithmetic, data interpretation, reasoning, current events and computer awareness, with 0.25 marks cut per wrong answer. Only the main technical paper decides your rank, so the technical syllabus for your post carries the weight. For JE (Civil) that means structural mechanics, soil mechanics, RCC and steel design, hydraulics, irrigation, transportation and estimation. Questions are set in both Odia and English.
How to prepare
- Treat the preliminary exam as a filter: aim to clear it comfortably, then put most of your hours into the 200-mark technical paper that sets the merit list.
- For JE (Civil), revise limit state design of beams, slabs, columns and footings along with estimation and rate analysis, since both are named units in the technical syllabus.
- Solve diploma-level numericals on shear force, bending moment and soil properties under time pressure; the main paper gives 120 minutes for 200 marks.
- Skip guesses you cannot narrow down in the preliminary paper, because each wrong answer costs 0.25 marks.
- Keep a short daily habit of topic-wise quizzes on the free Improvam app for reasoning and current events so the preliminary paper does not eat into technical study.
Practise OSSC CTSRE syllabus topics a few minutes a day with short quizzes in the Improvam app.
OSSC CTSRE FAQs
The merit list is drawn from the main written exam (technical paper). Preliminary marks are used only as a tie-breaker.
Sources
- OSSC Advertisements page: CTSRE-2025 detailed advertisement, Advt. No. 5925/OSSC (posted 19.05.2026), and its corrigendum and addendum of 30.05.2026 ↗ (official, checked )
Checked against official sources on . Rules change with each notification, so read the latest one before you apply.
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