OSSC CHSL Eligibility 2026: Age Limit and Qualification

OSSC CHSL eligibility for the 2025 recruitment is laid down in Advertisement No. 728/OSSC dated 2 March 2026, issued by the Odisha Staff Selection Commission for Amin, Junior Fisheries Technical Assistant and Junior Forensic Attendant posts. Each post asks for a specific Plus Two qualification, and every candidate must also meet the age, Odia language and nationality conditions.

Two dates matter most. Age is counted as on 1 January 2025, and the qualification must be held by the closing date of the online application. This page explains the post-wise qualification, age limit and relaxations, Odia language proof, other conditions, common reasons candidates are found ineligible, and the documents checked at certificate verification.

Table of Contents

OSSC CHSL Eligibility at a Glance

OSSC CHSL Educational Qualification

Points to note for each post

• Amin: Any Plus Two stream qualifies, but the basic computer skill certificate is compulsory and is checked at certificate verification.

• Junior Fisheries Technical Assistant: Candidates must declare in the online form that they know swimming well. Candidates with +2 Vocational (Fisheries) who apply only for this post upload that certificate with the form and may go straight to the main exam without writing the prelims.

• Applying for more than one post: A +2 Vocational (Fisheries) or +2 Science candidate who applies for another post along with Junior Fisheries Technical Assistant must write the prelims for the other post.

• Junior Forensic Attendant: Only +2 Science is accepted; Arts and Commerce candidates are not eligible for this post.

The advertisement does not prescribe a minimum percentage for the Plus Two qualification. Once a post is allotted on merit-cum-preference, OSSC will not change it because a candidate fails a post-specific physical, medical or educational requirement, so check every condition before listing a post in your preferences.

OSSC CHSL Age Limit and Relaxation

The minimum age is 21 years and the maximum is 42 years as on 1 January 2025, for all three posts. Without relaxation, you must have been born not earlier than 2 January 1983 and not later than 1 January 2004.

• SC and ST candidates with disability: They are entitled to a cumulative relaxation of ten years over and above the normal relaxation for their category.

• More than one category: Otherwise, a candidate who falls under more than one category gets only one age relaxation, whichever is more beneficial.

• Proof of age: Only the date of birth recorded in the High School Certificate issued by the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, or an equivalent certificate from a recognised board, council or Indian university, is accepted.

The maximum age column simply adds the relaxation to 42 years. If your case involves more than one relaxation, check the wording of the advertisement before applying.

OSSC CHSL Odia Language Requirement

All candidates must be able to read, write and speak Odia fluently, and must meet any one of these conditions:

1. Passed the Middle School Examination with Odia as a language subject.

2. Passed the HSC or an equivalent examination with Odia as the medium of examination in a non-language subject.

3. Passed Odia as a language subject in the final examination of Class VII or above from a school or institution recognised by the Government of Odisha or the Central Government.

4. Passed a test in Odia of Middle English School standard conducted by the School and Mass Education Department, Government of Odisha.

At certificate verification, candidates show either the HSC certificate with Odia as a compulsory subject or a certificate of passing Odia of M.E. standard issued by the competent authority.

Nationality and Other Conditions

• Nationality: Candidates must be citizens of India.

• Character and health: Candidates must be of good character, of sound health and good physique, and free from organic defects or bodily infirmity.

• Marital condition: A married candidate must not have more than one spouse living.

• Transgender candidates: Candidates from the transgender community are eligible to apply.

• PwD candidates: Persons with a permanent disability of not less than 40 percent, in the categories notified for each post, can claim PwD benefits. They must upload the online UDID certificate.

• Ex-Servicemen: Defence personnel due to retire within six months of the last date of the online application can apply with an NOC from the appropriate authority. Members of the BSF, Indian Coast Guard, CRPF and other paramilitary forces do not count as Ex-Servicemen.

• Sportspersons: Candidates claiming sports reservation need a sports ID card issued by the Director of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha.

• Government employees: Applicants working in State or Central Government service or PSUs must upload a No Objection Certificate from their controlling authority.

Category-wise vacancies

Reservation benefits apply only to the categories with vacancies in each post. The 2025 advertisement splits the 124 posts as follows; women's vacancies sit within each category.

If enough eligible women are not available in a category, the unfilled women's vacancies go to eligible men of the same category. OSSC states that vacancies and reservation can change without prior notice.

PwD categories by post

Who Is Not Eligible

• Wrong stream: Arts or Commerce candidates applying for Junior Forensic Attendant, which needs +2 Science.

• Missing computer certificate: Amin applicants without a basic computer skill certificate from a recognised institution.

• Qualification after the deadline: Candidates whose Plus Two result came after the closing date of the online application.

• Age outside the window: Candidates born before 2 January 1983 or after 1 January 2004 who have no applicable relaxation.

• No Odia proof: Candidates who cannot show any of the four accepted Odia qualifications.

• Details that do not match: Name, date of birth or parents' names that differ from the High School Certificate can lead to cancellation at certificate verification.

• Multiple applications: Submitting more than one application leads to rejection of all of them.

Fee and Documents

Candidates other than SC, ST and PwD pay an examination fee of Rs. 500 online, which is refunded to candidates who actually appear in the first stage.

Documents checked at certificate verification include:

• Application papers: Admission letter, filled Bio-Data-cum-Attestation form, and a signed copy of the online application.

• Age and qualification: HSC certificate and mark sheet, Plus Two certificate and mark sheet, and the +2 Vocational (Fisheries) certificate for Junior Fisheries Technical Assistant.

• Post-specific: Basic computer skill certificate for Amin, and the Odia language certificate for every post.

• Category claims: Online caste certificate for SC, ST and SEBC (the SEBC certificate must be issued within one year before the closing date), UDID certificate for PwD, discharge papers for Ex-Servicemen, sports ID card for sportspersons, and NOC for employed candidates.

Always confirm your eligibility against the advertisement on the official OSSC website, since OSSC accepts applications provisionally and checks eligibility only at certificate verification.