SSC Upper Division Clerk 2016 Limited Departmental Examination: A Complete Guide
Staff Selection Commission has recently come up with the notification to hold a limited departmental examination for promotion of lower division clerical staff in various departments of the Central Government to the rank of Upper Division Clerical Staff in departments such as Railway Board Secretariat Service, Central Hindi Directorate Secretariat Clerical Service, Armed Forces Headquarters Secretariat Clerical Service, Election Commission of India Clerical Service etc among others. The total number of vacancies has not been announced so far and it is going to be announced in due course as intimated by the commission in the latest advertisement. The online examination for the same is scheduled to be held by SSC on 03.12.2016 in select centres across the country
SSC UDC Departmental Examination 2016: Eligibility Criteria
Age Criteria: All the eligibility criteria are decided as on the crucial date for the advertisement which is 01.08.2016 and according to the notification, a candidate should not be more than of 50 years of age as on that date though this is not applicable for candidates belonging to Armed Forces HQ clerical service. The relaxation for SC/ ST Candidates is 5 years whereas in case of OBC, the same is 3 years and the same goes for Ex-Serviceman candidates
Service Criteria: As it is a departmental limited competitive examination for particularly promotion purposes, the length of service is necessary to be eligible for applying for this post. A candidate should have at least 5 years of service in his or her cadre on the crucial date and the same is 3 years in case of clerical service belonging to the Election Commission of India. If you have been appointed on the basis of a competitive examination result to your present cadre, the result of such examination should have been published not less than 5 years ago as on the crucial date for the advertisement whereas for election commission of India, it is 3 years only
SSC UDC Limited Departmental Examination 2016: Examination Pattern
The Commission has proposed to hold a computed based online examination in order to select suitable candidates for the post of upper division clerks in various organizations of the government. It is going to be held on 03.12.2016 and it will be of 300 marks
Written Examination: There will be two papers in the written examination and the first paper will be computer based objective type paper whereas the second paper will be of conventional type. Paper I will be of 200 marks and the time allotted will be 2 hours. There will be 100 questions on general awareness in this paper along with 100 questions on English Language. In the second half of the examination, there will be a paper (paper II) based on noting, drafting, office procedure etc of 100 marks and it will be a conventional type of written paper. The total time allotted will be 2 hours
Service Record: As it is a limited departmental examination, your service record carries a lot of weightage in the final selection. Your service particulars and annual performance reports will be scrutinized by the commission in order to decide your suitability for more responsibilities to be given to you as an Upper Division Clerk. This carries 100 marks and there is no interview for the post regarding final selection
Selection: Once you are declared eligible by the commission to sit for the examination, you are going to appear in the written examination and once you pass it based on the minimum qualifying standard declared by the commission, your service record will be examined by the commission. Based on the results of both of these tests, your final marks will be calculated and your fate will be decided by the commission regarding appointment in the higher grade
SSC UDC Limited Departmental Examination: Salary details
The post of Upper Division Clerks in the various organizations mentioned in the advertisement such as Railway Board, Election Commission, Central Hindi Directorate, Election Commission, Central Administrative Tribunal etc will carry a grade pay of Rs 2400 and the pay band attached to the post is Rs 5200-20200. If we calculate at the initial of the pay scale, the salary picture will not reflect much since most of you will only get increments or stagnation benefits after being appointed in this post. However, the following calculation is based on the pre-revised scale at the initial level of the grade pay and the gross salary based on the 7th Pay Commission Recommendations will come to around Rs 30000 in a class A city and based on the advertisement, you are going to be posted either in state capitals or metro cities only
SSC UDC 2016: Promotional Avenues
The promotional aspects are not very bright for this post as after one or two departmental examinations, you may be appointed as the section officer which is a gazetted post but that does not take place for most of the UDCs because of too much competition from direct recruits such as SSC Candidates appointed as assistants in various departments. UDCs need to be promoted to assistants first and after that only they can be promoted to Section Officers. However, if you pass all the examinations and are young, you can aim for something bigger than this based on your department of posting
SSC UDC 2016: How to Apply
If you are interested in applying for the vacancies advertised in the notification, the mode of application is offline only and you have to channelize the same through the head of your office only. You are advised to download the application form in the advertisement and fill the same and attach the first page of service book which bears all of your details along with other relevant documents such as caste certificate, age relaxation certificate etc. After filling up the form, you are supposed to forward the same through your office to the office of the Director of SSC, Northern Region. The address is as follows:
The Regional Director (Northern Region)
Staff Selection Commission
Block No.12, C.G.O. Complex, Lodhi Road
New Delhi-110504
Your application should reach this office by 31.10.2016 and for candidates living outside India or in case of candidates from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the last date is 07.11.2016
SSC UDC Limited Departmental Examination: Common Mistakes to be avoided
You all must be gearing up for your promotional exercises to be carried out by SSC in the next two months and you have to ensure that no technical glitch hampers your chances of getting a promotion. Avoid the following mistakes while applying:
- Channelize your application through your head of office only and ensure that your cadre controlling authority has forwarded the same within the stipulated time period
- It is the responsibility of your cadre controlling authority to ensure that there is vacancy against your application in the department you are applying for before forwarding your application form
- It is in your own interest that you ensure that the name of examination, month and year of the examination, your name and postal address, roll no / date of birth etc are written on the envelope itself before forwarding the same to the SSC as without these details, your candidature is liable to be rejected
- Ensure that all the documents are enclosed properly with your application as notified by the commission since without that, your application may be rejected without any further communication
- Ensure that you are eligible for the exercise as on the crucial date given in the notification i.e. 01.08.2016 based on which all the eligibility criteria will be decided by the commission
This examination is mainly aimed at candidates who are already in the government service and you are going to get promotion in case you clear this notified examination. So, fasten your seat belts, brush up your English and noting, drafting skills in the next two months and appear in the examination with full confidence of making it to the promotion.
All the best!!