Section Officers’ / Stenographers’ (Grade ‘B’ / Grade I) Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, 2016 & 2017 – Notification of Rules of the Examination
F.No.6/1 /2020-CS.l(P)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
***
2nd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
Khan Market, New Delhi.
Date the 15thSeptember, 2021
To
The Manager,
Government of India Press, Mayapuri,
New Delhi.
Subject: Section Officers / Stenographers (Grade B / Grade I) Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, 2016 & 2017 – Notification of Rules of the Examination – reg.
Sir/Madam,
I am directed to enclose herewith a copy of the Notification No.6/1 /2020-CS.I(P) dated 15.09.2021 (one copy each in H indi & English) duly signed by the Additional Secretary (CS) on the subject cited above for publication in Part-II, Section-3, Sub-section (i) of the Extraordinary Gazette of India on 15.09.2021.
Yours faithfully,
(George D. Toppo)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Tele:24642705
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
(Department of Personnel and Training)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 15th September, 2021
RULES
No. 6/1/2020-CS.I (P). – The rules for a Combined Section Officers’/ Stenographers’ (Grade B’/ Grade-1) Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for the years 2016 & 2017 to be held by the Union Public Service Commission, for additions in the Select Lists for the Section Officers’ Grade and Stenographers’ (Grade ‘B’/Grade-I) of the Services mentioned below are, with the concurrence of the Ministries concerned, published for general information.
Category I
Section Officers’ Grade of the Central Secretariat Service.
Category II
Section Officer Grade of the General Cadre of the Indian Foreign Service, Branch ‘B’
Category III
Section Officers’ Grade of the Railway Board Secretariat Service
Category IV
Private Secretary Grade of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service.
Category V
Private Secretary Grade of the Stenographers’ Cadre of the Indian Foreign Service, Branch ‘B’
Category VI
Grade ‘A’ & ‘B’ merged of the Armed Forces Headquarters Stenographers’ Service.
Category VII
Grade ‘B’ of the Railway Board Secretariat Stenographers’ Service.
Category VIII
Section Officers’ Grade of the Intelligence Bureau.
Category IX
Private Secretary Grade in Employees’ State Insurance Corporation
1. The number of persons to be selected for inclusion in the Select List for each grade will be specified in the Notice issued by the Commission. Final Selection of the candidates under different categories shall be decided and results declared based on the outcome of the pending litigation in SLP (C) No.30621/2011 and SLP (C) No.31288/2017. In respect of category III, the Ministry of Railways issued a provisional seniority list dated 04.06.2021, revising the seniority list of Assistant Section Officer (ASO) grade of Railway Board Secretariat Service from the year 1985 to 2011.The same is yet to be finalized. Results in respect of Category III will be kept withheld till the seniority list of Assistant Section Officer (ASO) grade is finalized by the Ministry of Railways and the candidates’ final eligibility will be decided based on the seniority list of the relevant years finalized by the Ministry of Railways.
2. The examination will be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission in the manner prescribed in Appendix to these Rules.
The dates on which and the places at which the examination will be held shall be fixed by the Commission.
3. Permanent or regularly appointed temporary Officers of the Grade and Services mentioned in column 1 below who on the crucial date for eligibility (as mentioned below) satisfy the conditions regarding length of service and educational qualification etc. mentioned in column 2 shall be eligible to appear at the examination for the category of service mentioned in column 3.
Crucial dates for eligibility
| 1st July, 2016 | for 2016 Examination |
| 1st July, 2017 | for 2017 Examination |
Note:
1. Candidate(s) eligible for 2016 Examination are also eligible for 2017 Examination subject to fulfillment of all other eligibility conditions and provided candidate specifically opts to be so considered.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
| Assistant Section Officers’ Grade of the Central Secretariat Service and Personal Assistants’ Grade (Stenographers Grade Secretariat Stenographers’ Service | Not less than 5 years’ approved Service and shall also have earned at least four Annual Performance Appraisal Reports in the Assistant Section Officers’ Grade of the Central Secretariat Service or Personal Assistants’ grade of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service. Personal Degree from a recognized University or equivalent. | Category I |
| Assistant Grade of the General Cadre, Personal Assistant Grade of the Stenographers’ Cadre and Cypher Assistant Grade of the Cypher sx sub-cadre of the Indian Foreign Service, Branch ‘B’ | Not less than 5 years approved service and shall also ¢ have earned at least 4 Annual Performance Appraisal Reports in the Assistant Grade of the General Cadre / Cypher Assistant Grade of the Cypher Cadre / Personal Assistant Grade of the Stenographers’ Cadre. Further, candidates should possess a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized University and should have completed such mandatory training programme(s) as may be prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs. | Category II |
| Assistant Section Officers’ Grade of Railway Board Secretariat Service and Grade C of the Railway Board &§ Secretariat Stenographers’ Service. | Not less than 5 years’ approved and continuous Service in the Assistant Section Officers’ Grade of the Railway Board Secretariat Service or in Grade II / Grade C of the Railway Board Secretariat Stenographers’ Service or in both as the case may be. | Category III |
| Personal Assistant of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service | Not less than 3 years’ approved and continuous service in Personal Assistants’ Grade of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service and shall possess a Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University. | Category IV |
| Personal Assistant Grade of the, Stenographers’ Cadre of the Indian Foreign Service Branch ‘B’ | Not less than 5 years approved service in the Personal Assistant Grade of the Stenographers’ Cadre and shall possess a Bachelor’s Degree of a recognized University. Further, candidates should have completed such mandatory training programme(s) as may be prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs. | Category V |
| Grade C of Armed Forces Headquarters Stenographers’ Service | Not less than 3 years’ approved and continuous service in Grade II / Grade C of the Armed Forces Headquarters Stenographers’ Service. | Category VI |
| Grade C of the Railway Board Secretariat Stenographers’ Service | Not less than 5 years’ approved and continuous ( service in Grade II / Grade C of the Railway Board Secretariat Stenographers’ Service. | category VII |
| Assistant Grade of IB / Stenographers’ Service Grade II of IB | Permanent or regularly appointed temporary Assistant /Stenographers Grade-II (Personal Assistants) of the Inteliigence Bureau with not less than 4 years of approved and continuous service in the case of officers appointed in the grades on the basis of Competitive Examination or Limited Departmental Competitive Examination as the case may be, provided that the examination should have been held not less than five years before the 1° July of the year in which the Section Officers Limited Departmental Competitive Examination is held, or not less than five years of approved and continuous service, in the case of officers appointed in the grades on the basis of seniority in their respective feeder grades on 1“ July of the year in which Section Officers grade Limited Departmental Competitive Examination is held, will be eligible to appear in the examination. | Category VIII |
| Personal Assistants in Employees’ State Insurance Corporation | Not less than 3 years’ approved and continuous C service in Personal Assistants Grade in Employees’ State Insurance Corporation. | category IX |
Provided that in the case of a candidate (except a candidate appearing for Category I, Category II, Category IV, Category V examination ) who had been appointed to the Grades mentioned in column 1 above on the result of a Competitive Examination, including a Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, such an examination should have been held not less than 5 years before the crucial date and he should have rendered not less than 4 years approved and continuous service in that grade on the crucial date.
Provided that in the case of a candidate appearing for Categories IV and IX examination who had been appointed to the Grade mentioned in column 1 above on the result of a Competitive Examination including a Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, such an examination should have been held not less than 3 years before the crucial date and he/she should have rendered not less than 2 years approved and continuous service in that grade on the crucial date.
Note 1. Permanent or regularly appointed officers of the Grades and Services mentioned in Column 1 above who are on deputation to ex-cadre posts for a specified period with the approval of the competent authority will be eligible to be admitted to the examination, if otherwise eligible and the service rendered by them during the period of deputation will qualify towards the length of service mentioned in column 2.
This however does not apply to the officers of the Grades and Services mentioned in Column 1 above who have been appointed to ex-cadre posts or to another Service on “transfer” and do not have a lien in the Grades and Services referred to in Column 1.
Note 2. Assistant Section Officers of the Central Secretariat Service and Stenographers of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service who have opted for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service, Branch’B’ and have been appointed to any Grade of that Service in pursuance of such option shall not be eligible for admission to the examination for Categories I and IV.
Note 3. Assistant Section Officers of the Central Secretariat Service and Stenographers of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service who are on deputation to the Indian Foreign Service, Branch ‘B’ shall not be eligible for admission to the examination for Categories II and V.
4. A candidate, who is eligible to compete for two categories and who exercises this option, should specify clearly in the Application the categories for which he/she is eligible and wishes to be considered in the order of preference. No request for any change/addition/ alteration in the preference already indicated by a candidate in his/her application will be entertained by the Commission. Candidates may also take care to choose Category No. correctly, as corrections/ incorrect combination will not be considered/allowed and may lead to summary rejection of the candidature. It may also be noted that a candidate will not be considered for any category that he/she has not specifically chosen in the application form.
5. The decision of the Commission with regard to the acceptance of the application of a candidate and his/her eligibility or otherwise for admission to the Examination shall be final.
6. No candidate will be admitted to the examination unless he holds certificate of admission from the Commission.
7. A candidate who is or has been declared by the Commission to be guilty of:-
(i) Obtaining support for his/her candidature by the following means, namely:-
a) Offering illegal gratification to; or
b) Applying pressure on; or
c) Blackmailing, or threatening to blackmail any person connected with the conduct of the examination; or
(ii) impersonation, or
(iii) procuring impersonation by any person, or
(iv) submitting fabricated document or documents which have been tampered with, or
(v) uploading irrelevant photos in the application form in place of actual photo/signature.
(vi) making statements which are incorrect or false or suppressing material information, or
(vii) resorting to the following means in connection with his/her candidature for the examination, namely:-
a) obtaining copy of question paper through improper means;
b) finding out the particulars of the persons connected with secret work relating to the examination;
c) influence the examiners; or
(viii) being in possession of or using unfair means during examination, or
(ix) writing obscene matter or drawing obscene sketches or irrelevant matter in the script(s), or
(x) misbehaving in the examination hall including tearing of the scripts, provoking fellow examinees to boycott examination, creating a disorderly scene and the like; or
(xi) harassing or doing bodily harm to the staff employed by the Commission for the conduct of their examination, or
(xii) being in possession of or using any mobile phone, (even in switched off mode) , pager or any electronic equipment or programmable device or storage media like pen drive, smart watches etc. or camera or Bluetooth devices or any other equipment or related accessories either in working or switched off mode capable of being used as a communication device during the examination; or
(xiii) violating any of the instructions issued to candidates along with their Admission Certificates permitting them to take the examination, or
(xiv) attempting to commit or, as the case may be, abetting the Commission of all or any of the acts specified in the foregoing clauses; may, in addition to rendering himself/herself liable to criminal prosecution, be liable :-
(a) to be disqualified by the Commission from the Examination held under these Rules for which he/she is a candidate, and/or
(b) to be debarred either permanently or for a specified period-
(i) by the Commission from any examination or selection held by them ;
(ii) by the Central Government from any employment under them; and
(c) to disciplinary action under the appropriate rules. Provided that no penalty under this rule shall be imposed except after-
(i) giving the candidate an opportunity of making such representation in writing as he may wish to make in that behalf ; and
(ii) taking the representation, if any submitted by the candidate within the period allowed to him/her, into consideration.
7.(1) Any person who is found by the Commission to be guilty of colluding with a candidate(s) in committing or abetting the commission of any of the misdeeds listed at the clauses (i) to (xiii) above shall render himself/herself liable to action in terms of the clause (xiv).
8. (i) After the examination, candidates shall be considered for vacancies for two years i.e. 2016 & 2017 subject to their eligibility for any or all the years and will be arranged by the Commission in the order of merit as disclosed by the aggregate marks finally awarded to each candidate subject to qualifying standards for each paper/part of the examination as decided by the Commission. However, the results shall be declared separately to ensure that if vacancies remain unfilled in any of the year (i.e. 2016 and 2017), the same are carried forward to next vacancy year.
Year wise and category wise merit lists for inclusion in the respective Select List will be based on the number of vacancies, candidate’s merit and choice (preference of year and category, as eligible) as indicated by the candidate and fulfillment of all other eligibility conditions. The Commission reserves the right to fix minimum qualifying standards for any or all stage(s) or paper(s) of the Examination.
Where a candidate would have otherwise qualified on the basis of aggregate merit/marks in more than one category and/or year of consideration, his/her inclusion in a particular select list will depend on the category- year combination that becomes available based on the candidate’s choice exercised at the relevant time. Therefore, based on his/her merit, and subject to vacancy position and other eligibility conditions, a candidate will be placed in the appropriate select list (category and year) factoring his/her preference. Ifa candidate’s name is included in the select list for a particular category for a particular year, his/her name will not be considered for inclusion in other list(s).
Vacancies remaining unfilled in any of the years (2016 & 2017) due to non-availability of suitable/qualified candidates, will be carried forward to the next Vacancy year for Category I, III, IV, VII, VIII and IX. This provision will not be applicable for Category VI. In case of candidates appearing for Category II & V, only vacancies reserved for SC/ST Category candidates remaining unfilled in any of the years (2016, 2017) due to non-availability of selected/qualified candidates will be carried forward to the next examination,
(ii) The final selection of the candidates including candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes for inclusion in the Select List for each category will be decided based on the guidelines to be issued by the Department of Personnel & Training as per the outcome of the pending litigation in SLP (C) No.3062112011 and SLP (C) No.31288/2017.
Note: – Candidate should clearly understand that this is a competitive and not a qualifying examination. The number of persons to be included in each Select List on the result of the examination is entirely within the competence of Government to decide. No candidate will therefore have any claim for inclusion in the Select List on the basis of his/her performance in this Examination as a matter of right.
9. The form and manner of communication of the result of the examination to individual candidates shall be decided by the Commission in their discretion and the Commission will not enter into correspondence with them regarding the result.
10. Success in the examination confers no right to selection unless Government are satisfied after such enquiry as may be considered necessary, that the candidate, having regard to his/her conduct in service, is eligible and suitable in all respects for selection :
Provided that the decision as to ineligibility for selection in the case of any candidate recommended for selection by the Commission shall be taken in consultation with the Commission.
11. A candidate who after applying for admission to the examination or after appearing at it, resigns his/her appointment or otherwise quits the service or severs his/her connection with it or whose services are terminated by his/her Department or who is appointed to an ex-cadre post or to another Service on ‘transfer’ and does not have a lien in the Assistant Section Officers’ Grades of the Central Secretariat Service/Railway Board Secretariat Service/LB./ or Stenographer Grade-C of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service/Railway Board Secretariat Stenographers’ Service/Grade II of LB. Stenographers’ Service/Armed Forces Headquarters Stenographers’ Service or any post in the Indian Foreign Service, Branch ‘B’ will not be eligible for appointment on the result of this examination.
This, however, does not apply to a person who has been appointed on deputation to an ex-cadre post with the approval of the competent authority.
(Deepti Umashanka)
Additional Secretary to the Government of India
APPENDIX
The examination shall be conducted according to the following plan:-
Part-I
(a) Written examination carrying maximum of 500 marks in the subjects as shown in para 2 below.
b) A qualifying Shorthand test in Hindi or English at 100 w.p.m.
Note I- All the candidates competing for Categories IV, V, VI, VII and IX will be required to take qualifying shorthand test at the time of the written examination. However, evaluation of record of service will be done of only those candidates who qualify both in the written examination as well as in the Shorthand Test.
Note II. Candidates will be required to transcribe their shorthand notes on Computers (PCs) which will be provided at the Examination centre by the Commission.
Part II
Evaluation of record of service carrying a maximum of 100 marks of candidates:-
(i) who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written examination as may be fixed by the Commission in their discretion (for categories I, II, III and VIII); and
(ii) who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written examination and the shorthand test as may be fixed by the Commission in their discretion (for Categories IV, V, VI, VII and IX).
Note 1: Marks obtained in evaluation of record of service (i.e. APARs of the officers available to the Assessment Board at the time of its meeting) will be counted for ranking. Once the APARs have been evaluated by the Assessment Boards, no request for its reassessment will be entertained under any circumstances including a change in APAR grading, etc. at a subsequent date.
Note 2: There shall be a minimum of 40% (forty percent) marks in the evaluation of record of service. Therefore, such candidates who obtain less than 40% (forty percent) marks in the evaluation of record of service will not be considered for ranking.
2. The subjects, in which the candidates competing for different categories of services will be required to take the written examination, will be as follows:–
| Paper No. | Subject | Type of Paper | Max. Marks | Duration |
| 1 | General Studies & General Knowledge of Constitution of India and Machinery of Government, Practice and Procedures in Parliament and Knowledge of RTI Act, 2005. | Objective | 150 | 2 Hrs. |
| 2 | Procedure and Practice in the Govt. of India Secretariat and attached offices and General Financial and Service Rules duly taking into account the requirement of relevant categories of services. | Objective | 150 | 2 Hrs. |
| 3 | Noting and Drafting, Precis writing | Subjective | 200 | 3 Hrs. |
| Evaluation of record of Service | 100 | |||
| Total Marks – | 600 |
3. Penalty for wrong answers (in Objective Type Papers)
THERE WILL BE PENALTY (NEGATIVE MARKING) FOR WRONG ANSWERS MARKED BY A CANDIDATE IN THE OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTION PAPERS.
(i) There are four alternatives for the answer to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one third of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.
(ii) If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question.
(iii) If a question is left blank, i.e., no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.
4. Syllabi for the Examination will be as shown in the schedule.
5. Candidates are allowed the option to answer the Noting and Drafting, Precis Writing paper either in Hindi (Devanagari) or in English. All the three question papers/test booklets will be set both in Hindi and English.
Note 1: Candidates desirous of exercising the option to answer the Noting and Drafting, Precis Writing paper in Hindi (Devanagari) should indicate their intention to do so in relevant column of on-line Application Form; otherwise it would be assumed that they would answer the aforesaid paper in English. The option once exercised shall be treated as final and no request for alteration in the said column shall be entertained.
Note 2: Candidates exercising the option to answer the paper in Hindi (Devanagari) may, if they so desire, give English version within brackets of the description of the technical terms, if any, in addition to the Hindi version.
Note 3: If a medium other than the one indicated by the candidate in the application form is used to write the answer in the examination, the paper of such candidates will not be evaluated.
6. The shorthand test in English/Hindi would comprise dictation test at the speed of 100 words per minute of ten minutes which the candidate will be required to transcribe in 40/55 minutes.
7. Candidates must write the papers in their own hand. In no circumstances they will be allowed the help of a scribe to write the answers for them.
8. Appearance of candidates in all the three papers is a must for qualifying in the examination. The Commission has the discretion to fix minimum qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination.
9. Marks will not be allotted for mere superficial knowledge.
10. Deduction upto 5% of the maximum marks in the written subject will be made for illegible handwriting.
11. Credit will be given for orderly, effective and exact expression combined with due economy of words in the subjective paper.
12. Candidates should use only international form of Indian numerals (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc.) while answering Paper – Ill.
SCHEDULE
Syllabi for examination
WHERE KHOWLEDGE OF THE RULES, ORDERS, INSTRUCTIONS ETC. IS REQUIRED, CANDIDATES WILL BE EXPECTED TO BE CONVERSANT WITH AMENDMENTS ISSUED UP TO THE DATE OF NOTIFICATION OF THIS EXAMINATION.
PAPER -I
The paper will cover subjects of interest and importance in the present day. Questions will be set to test knowledge of the broad salient features of the Five Year Plans, Indian Economy and major Developmental Schemes as also intelligence awareness of current affairs both national and international.
A broad knowledge of the following aspects will also be expected:
(i) The principles of the Constitution of India
(ii) Rules of procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
(iii) The organization of the machinery of the Govt. of India, Designation and allocation of subjects between Ministries, Departments and Attached & Subordinate Offices and their relation inter se.
(iv) RTI Act, 2005.
PAPER – II
This paper is intended to be intensive and detailed test in methods and procedure of work in the Government of India Secretariat and attached offices. Detailed knowledge of General Financial and Service Rules viz., Conduct Rules, Leave Rules, TA Rules etc. will be tested. A list of Reference Books (which are however not exhaustive) are recommended –
(for Category I, IV,VIII & IX)
- Manual of office procedure (latest edition)
- Notes on office procedure issued by the Institute of Secretarial Training and Management.
- Handbook of orders regarding use of Hindi for official purpose of the Union issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. (for Category I & IV only)
- Fundamental and Supplementary Rules (A.G.P.&T’s compilation, Chaudhury’s compilation, Swamy’s compilation).
- The Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules.
- The Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules.
- The Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules.
- Central Civil Service (Leave) Rules.
- Compilation of the General Financial Rules, (Revised and Enlarged).
- Delegation of Financial Power Rules.
- Intelligence Bureau Standing Orders (for Category VIII only).
(for Category II & V)
- Manual of office procedure (latest edition).
- Notes on office procedure issued by the I.S.T.M.
- Handbook of orders regarding use of Hindi for official purpose of the Union issued by the Min. of Home Affairs.
- Fundamental and Supplementary Rules (A.G.P. & T’s compilation, Chaudhury’s compilation, Swamy’s compilation).
- The Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules.
- The Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules.
- Compilation of the General Financial Rules (Revised and enlarged).
- Delegation of Financial Power Rules.
- Indian Foreign Service (PLCA) Rules.
- Financial Powers of Government of India’s Representatives abroad.
- Assisted Medical Attendance Schemes.
- Indian Foreign Service (Conduct and Discipline) rules.
(for Category III & VII)
- Manual of Office Procedure issued by the Min. of Railways (Railway Board).
- Handbook of orders regarding use of Hindi for official purpose of the Union issued by the Min. of Home Affairs.
- Indian Railway Admn. and Finance (excluding Chapters V, VI, VIII & IX).
- Indian Railway Financial Code Vol. I (excluding Chapter II and VI).
- Indian Railway Establishment Code Vol. I.
- The Railway Services (Conduct) Rules, 1966.
- The Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rule, 1968.
(for Category VI)
- Manual of office procedure (latest edition).
- Notes on office procedure issued by the Institute of Secretarial Training and Management.
- Handbook of orders regarding use of Hindi for official purpose of the Union issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Fundamental and Supplementary Rules (A.G.P.&T’s compilation, Chaudhury’s compilation, Swamy’s compilation).
- The Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules.
- The Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules.
- The Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules.
Central Civil Service (Leave) Rules. - Financial Regulations Part I (Revised Edition).
PAPER – III
Candidates are required to prepare notes and drafts on specific problems and precis from a passage.
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