The Odisha Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC) has thrown open 5,989 District Cadre Group-C Nursing Officer seats spanning all 30 districts of Odisha, under the Health & Family Welfare Department.OSSSC Nursing Officer Recruitment 2026 , Registration began on 13 June 2026, and the window closes on 20 July 2026. Every applicant pays ₹500 except SC, ST, and PwD candidates, who are exempt. Applications go exclusively through www.osssc.gov.in.
OSSSC Nursing Officer Recruitment 2026
Quick Summary
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Post Name | Nursing Officer |
| Organisation | Odisha Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC) |
| Advertisement No. | IIE-542026-1962OSSSC dated 12-06-2026 |
| Total Vacancies | 5,989 |
| Cadre Type | District Cadre, Group-C |
| Registration Start | 13 June 2026 |
| Last Date to Apply | 20 July 2026 |
| Application Mode | Online — www.osssc.gov.in |
| Pay Scale | ₹29,200–92,300, Pay Matrix Level-8, Cell-01 |
This hiring drive falls under the Odisha Nursing Service Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service Rules, 2019, along with subsequent amendments. Selected candidates may also find themselves deployed as Community Health Officers (CHO), depending on the appointing authority’s discretion.
Important Dates,OSSSC Nursing Officer Recruitment 2026
The registration window stretches across roughly a month and a half — don’t cut it close, since the portal locks itself out automatically at midnight on the closing date, no exceptions.
| Event | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Online Registration (New/Re-registration) | 13 June 2026 | 06 July 2026 |
| Submission of Online Application | 13 June 2026 | 13 July 2026 |
| Extended Registration (New/Re-registration) | 13 June 2026 | 20 July 2026 |
| Extended Application Submission | 13 June 2026 | 27 July 2026 |
Registration and final submission are two distinct actions. Finishing one without the other leaves your candidacy incomplete — log back in after registering to actually file the full form before 20 July 2026.
Vacancy Breakdown — District & Category-Wise
All 5,989 posts are district cadre positions, meaning postings and transfers stay confined to whichever district a candidate is allocated to. Applicants rank their district preferences in order of priority within the form itself.
Category-wise split:
| Category | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Unreserved (UR) | 1,880 |
| UR Women | 941 |
| Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 1,057 |
| ST Women | 531 |
| Scheduled Caste (SC) | 645 |
| SC Women | 326 |
| SEBC | 406 |
| SEBC Women | 203 |
| Total | 5,989 |
Special category allotments (already folded into the district totals above):
| Special Category | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Ex-Servicemen | 180 |
| Sportsperson | 60 |
| Visually Impaired | 60 |
| Hearing Impaired | 60 |
| Orthopedically Impaired | 60 |
| Mentally Disabled | 60 |
Top five districts by vacancy count:
| District | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Koraput | 619 |
| Angul | 486 |
| Cuttack | 473 |
| Balangir | 355 |
| Balasore | 347 |
The Government reserves the right to revise the total seat count without advance notice, and reservation norms follow whatever Odisha Acts, Rules, and Notifications happen to be in force at the time.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants need to clear both the age bracket and the academic bar simultaneously. Every condition must hold true as of the advertisement date, 12 June 2026 — with one exception: the Nursing Council registration, which only needs to be valid as of the date you actually submit your form.
Age Limit: Between 21 and 42 years as on 12 June 2026. Date of birth gets verified strictly off the HSC certificate (Board of Secondary Education, Odisha) or an equivalent from a recognised board, council, or Indian university.
Age relaxation:
| Category | Relaxation |
|---|---|
| SC/ST/SEBC Women | 5 years (ceiling becomes 47) |
| Persons with Disabilities | 10 years (ceiling becomes 52) |
| PwDs under SC/ST/SEBC | Cumulative 10 years on top of the SC/ST/SEBC relaxation |
| Ex-Servicemen | Relaxable by total defence service period rendered |
| Contractual Nursing Officer (OSHFW Society/Scheme) & ASHAs | Ceiling of 45 years |
Only one relaxation category applies per candidate — pick the most beneficial one — except PwDs falling under SC/ST/SEBC, who stack both. Ex-servicemen who’ve already landed a regular State Government job and used their Ex-Servicemen quota once can’t claim it again here.
Educational Qualification — all three must be satisfied:
- Academic: Passed 10+2 or its equivalent.
- Professional: Diploma in GNM (General Nursing & Midwifery) or a B.Sc Nursing degree from a Medical College/Hospital in Odisha, or any other institution recognised by the Indian Nursing Council.
- Registration: Name registered with the Odisha State Nursing Council, holding a valid Registration or Renewal Certificate as of the application submission date — this must be uploaded with the application.
- Odia Language: Able to speak, read, and write Odia, demonstrated via any one of: Middle School exam with Odia as a subject; Matriculation with Odia as medium of instruction for non-language subjects; Odia as a subject at Class-VII level or above from a government-recognised institution; or a departmental Odia test at M.E. School standard.
Other conditions: Indian citizenship and good character are mandatory. Candidates with more than one living spouse are disqualified. Sportsperson-category claimants need a valid Sports ID from the Odisha Sports & Youth Services Department (scanned original, not a photocopy). Anyone currently debarred from OSSSC recruitment stays ineligible for the debarment period.
Application Fee
Reserved categories get a full waiver, and even paying candidates get their money back if they actually sit the exam.
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| All others | ₹500 |
| SC/ST/PwD | Nil |
Pay via Net Banking, Credit Card, Debit Card, or UPI through the gateway during submission. No Confirmation Page after payment means the transaction got cancelled — refund lands within 48 hours, after which you’ll need to pay again. The ₹500 fee itself comes back to genuine exam-takers once attendance gets verified post-exam; no-shows forfeit it. Refunds route to whichever account or method was used originally, so stick to your own account.
Selection Process
Just two real hurdles: a Written Test and Document Verification. No interview stage exists.
Stage 1 — Written Test (100 marks, MCQ, OMR/CBRE mode):
100 questions, 100 marks, 2-hour duration. Whether it runs as OMR or CBRE gets announced separately.
| Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Subjects per Syllabus (Annexure-II) | 60 | 60 |
| Practical Skills | 25 | 25 |
| Arithmetic (High School level) | 10 | 10 |
| English (High School level) | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
Negative marking: 0.25 deducted per wrong answer. Marking more than one option on a question counts as wrong. Blanks cost nothing.
Minimum qualifying score: 30 (normalized) for ST/SC/PwD/Ex-Servicemen/Sportsperson categories; 35 for everyone else.
Tie-break order: fewer incorrect attempts → higher marks in GNM/B.Sc Nursing → older age → higher marks in the second-listed exam → Commission’s discretion. If CBRE runs across multiple shifts/dates, a normalization formula equalizes raw scores.
Stage 2 — Provisional Master Merit List: Ranked by score; those clearing the qualifying threshold get shortlisted for Document Verification at 1.25x the advertised vacancy count per category.
Stage 3 — Document Verification: Conducted before the District Level Board at each Collector/District Magistrate’s office; originals get checked by the Chief District Medical & Public Health Officer. Skipping this step voids candidature, which stays provisional until the appointing authority signs off.
Stage 4 — Provisional Select List: Drawn strictly by merit, vacancy availability, and district preference (as declared in the form or during physical counselling).
Physical Counselling (optional): The Commission may, at its own discretion, summon shortlisted candidates for counselling to finalize district allocation based on merit-cum-choice.
Written Test Syllabus (Annexure-II)
Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Psychology, Sociology, Nursing Foundation, First Aid, Community Health Nursing, Nutrition, Medical-Surgical/Adult Health Nursing (per the revised 2021 B.Sc Nursing syllabus), Mental Health Nursing, Child Health Nursing, Midwifery & Gynaecological Nursing, Nursing Education, Research & Statistics, Professional Values & Ethics, and Nursing Administration & Management.
OSSSC Nursing Officer Recruitment 2026
How to Apply
Two mandatory, sequential steps — registration, then submission. Registering alone without submitting leaves the application rejected.
- Visit www.osssc.gov.in.
- First-timers click Apply Online; anyone previously registered for an OSSSC post uses Re-registration under the Applicant Menu instead.
- Read the “How do I register/re-register/apply” instructions before starting.
- Complete registration. Keep ready beforehand: a scanned signature (jpg/jpeg/png, 20–50 KB) and a scanned colour passport photo (jpg/jpeg/png, 20–100 KB), plus an active personal email and mobile number.
- Log in post-registration, fill the full form, upload documents, and rank district preferences.
- Pay the ₹500 fee (if applicable) via Net Banking/Card/UPI.
- Print the Confirmation Page once payment clears.
- Submit the form — incomplete submissions get rejected outright, and no Admission Letter follows.
Hold onto your User ID, password, and registration number; you’ll need them for the Admission Letter and future OSSSC communication.
Salary & Pay Scale
A permanent Group-C, district-cadre position under the Odisha Revised Scale of Pay (ORSP) Rules, 2017.
| Post | Pay Scale | Pay Matrix Level | Starting Basic Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing Officer | ₹29,200–92,300 | Level-8, Cell-01 | ₹29,200 |
Dearness Allowance and other allowances apply on top, per standard government norms. Selected candidates may be deployed as Community Health Officer at the appointing authority’s discretion.
Documents Required for Verification
- Odisha Nursing Council Registration Certificate, valid as of application date
- HSC or equivalent 10+2 pass certificate
- GNM Diploma or B.Sc Nursing certificate and mark sheets
- Proof of Odia as a language subject (Class-VII+) or the departmental Odia test certificate
- Caste certificate (SC/ST/SEBC) or UDID/Disability Certificate for PwDs
- Discharge Certificate/Identity Card plus service proof for Ex-Servicemen, with a non-re-employment undertaking
- Contractual work proof (OSHFW Society/Scheme or ASHA) for those claiming that relaxation
- Sports ID card for Sportsperson-category claimants
PwD applicants need a Permanent Disability Certificate showing at least 40% disability (scanned original required). Temporary disability doesn’t qualify — such applications get rejected outright.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Photo/signature errors: Stick to the specified formats and size ranges exactly — jpg/jpeg/png, photo 20–100 KB, signature 20–50 KB. Blurry or oversized files trigger rejection.
Treating registration as the finish line: It isn’t. Log back in and submit the actual application — only then are you considered a filed candidate.
Payment confusion: If the Confirmation Page doesn’t appear, don’t panic-close the browser. A failed transaction auto-refunds within 48 hours; then retry payment once, not multiple times simultaneously.
Contact details: Use an email and phone number you’ll keep active through the entire process, including results and admission letter downloads. Never share your login credentials, and don’t swap your registered email or number mid-process.
Multiple applications: Filing more than one form for this post gets you disqualified outright.
Last-minute rush: The system disables itself the instant the deadline passes. Submitting on 20 July risks server congestion and timeouts — apply well ahead.
Contractual Nursing Officers claiming relaxation: Upload self-attested appointment letters online, and keep the originals ready for post-exam verification.
Important Links
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Extended Last Date Notification | Official OSSSC notice |
| Official Notification | Official OSSSC notice |
| Official OSSSC Website | www.osssc.gov.in |
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the last date to apply for OSSSC Nursing Officer 2026? 20 July 2026. The system disables automatically after this date, with no further submissions accepted.
How many vacancies are on offer? 5,989, spread across all 30 districts under the Health & Family Welfare Department.
What educational qualification is required? 10+2, a GNM Diploma or B.Sc Nursing from an Indian Nursing Council-recognised institution, plus a valid Odisha Nursing Council Registration/Renewal Certificate as of the submission date.
What’s the age limit? 21 to 42 years as on 12 June 2026. SC/ST/SEBC Women get a 5-year relaxation (ceiling 47); PwDs get 10 years (ceiling 52); contractual Nursing Officers under OSHFW Society/Scheme and ASHAs get a ceiling of 45.
What’s the application fee? ₹500 for everyone except SC, ST, and PwD candidates, who pay nothing. Payable via Net Banking, Card, or UPI.
What’s the pay scale? ₹29,200–92,300 at Pay Matrix Level-8, Cell-01, per ORSP Rules 2017, with a starting basic pay of ₹29,200/month.
What’s the selection process? A 100-mark MCQ Written Test (OMR/CBRE, 2 hours), followed by Document Verification and a Provisional Select List — no interview. Qualifying marks: 30 for ST/SC/PwD/Ex-Servicemen/Sportsperson, 35 for others.
What does the exam pattern look like? 100 questions across four sections: 60 on nursing syllabus subjects, 25 on practical skills, 10 on Arithmetic (High School level), 5 on English (High School level) — with a 0.25-mark penalty per wrong answer.