Bhubaneswar: In an aim to ensure that students preparing for Civil Service Examinations at State and National-levels will not face any difficulty, the State Cabinet on Friday decided to change the pattern of Odisha Civil Services Examination at par with the Civil Services examination conducted by the UPSC.
The State Cabinet led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved eight proposals including amendment to the Odisha Civil Services (Combined Competitive Recruitment Examination) Rules, 1991, said Chief Secretary S.C. Mahapatra here.
The amendment was made in consonance with the provisions made by UPSC in connection with pattern/scheme and subject of the examination for Central Civil Services Examination so that candidates can prepare themselves for the Civil Services Examination conducted by the OPSC and UPSC simultaneously, he said.
As per the new rules, out of a total of 2000 marks, 1750 for written tests and 250 is for personality tests. The written test includes Odia, English, Essay, General Studies-I, II, III, IV and Optional Subject Paper-I & Paper-II. All written test papers consist of 250 marks.
Changes in the examination pattern in the above manner will require time for candidates to adapt to the revised pattern of the examination. As such it has been proposed to revise the attempt to appear the examination also, said Mahapatra.
Now, the Unreserved Category students can appear for the test for six attempts while SEBC candidates can appear for nine times. There is no limit for the SC & ST category students, he informed.
In order to streamline the recruitment processes and to complete the recruitment examinations in a reasonable time period, the State Government has decided to conduct Combined Graduate Level Recruitment Examination instead of multiple examinations conducted by Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC).
This will save the time of applicants and of the Government. It will also reduce the examination related expenditure, said the Chief Secretary.
This Combined Graduate Level Recruitment Examination will put an end to the existing practice as the candidate has to exercise the post or service for which he or she wishes to be considered in order of his or her preference as mentioned in the application.
It is therefore proposed to frame the Combined Graduate Level Recruitment Examination for Group-B and Group-C of different State Cadre Posts or Services Rules, 2022 which shall have overriding effect on all the Recruitment Rules or Regulations or Orders or Instructions issued by Administrative Department/Heads of Departments so far as regulating the process of recruitment to the posts and services under the State Government.
The Cabinet has also approved the proposal to frame an omnibus Rules namely the Odisha Civil Services (Method of Examination in Odia Medium Language) Rules, 2022.
In order to promote Odia language, the amendment was proposed to prescribe enabling provisions by way of framing an omnibus Rules to the effect that, the candidates shall answer the questions in Odia language except the Language subject.
However, the candidates who desire to answer the papers and/or to face the Interview in English language, must exercise the option at the time of filling up the Application form for the Examination, he informed.
Moreover, the Cabinet has approved the proposal for creation of 120 Odisha Secretariat Service (OSS) Cadre posts in addition to existing 359 posts. As per the decision, 70 Under Secretary, 33 Deputy Secretary, 15 Joint Secretary and two Additional Secretary posts have been created under Group-A posts.