A candidate must be either:

(a) a citizen of India, or
(b) a subject of Nepal, or
(c) a subject of Bhutan, or
(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India, before the 1st January 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania (Formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.
A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary may be admitted to the Examination but the offer of appointment will be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him by the Government of India.

(a) Stenographer Grade ‘C’: 18 to 30 years as on 01-01-2020 (i.e. candidates born on or after 02-01-1989 and born before or on 01-01-2001)
(b) Stenographer Grade ‘D’: 18-27 years as on 01-01-2020 (i.e. candidates born on or after 02-01-1992 and born before or on 01-01-2001)
(c) Permissible relaxation in upper age limit as specified in Para-5 (a) and 5 (b) above and category codes for claiming age relaxation are as follows:

(d) Candidates should note that the Date of Birth as recorded in the Matriculation/ Secondary Examination certificate or an equivalent certificate only, will be accepted by the Commission for determining the age eligibility and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.
(e) Ex-Servicemen who have already secured employment in civil side under Central Government in Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ posts on regular basis after availing of the benefits of reservation given to ex-servicemen for their re-employment are not eligible for reservation in ESM category and fee concession. However, he/ she can avail of the benefit of reservation as an ex-serviceman for subsequent employment if he/ she immediately after joining civil employment, given self-declaration/ undertaking to the concerned employer about the date-wise details of applications for various vacancies for which he/ she had applied for before joining the initial civil employment as mentioned in the OM No.36034/1/2014-Estt (Res) dated 14th August 2014 issued by DoP&T.
(f) The period of "Call up Service" of an Ex-Serviceman in the Armed Forces shall also be treated as service rendered in the Armed Forces for purpose of age relaxation as per rules.
(g) For any serviceman of the three Armed Forces of the Union to be treated as Ex-Serviceman for the purpose of securing the benefits of reservation, he must have already acquired, at the relevant time of submitting his application for the Post/ Service the status of ex-servicemen or is in a position to establish his acquired entitlement by documentary evidence from the competent authority that he would complete specified term of engagement from the Armed Forces within the stipulated period of one year from the closing date for receipt of applications (i.e. 18-10-2019) otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency. Such candidates must also acquire the status of an ex-serviceman within the stipulated period of one year from the closing date of receipt of application (i.e. 18-10-2019).
(h). Explanation: An ‘ex-serviceman’ means a persona.

a. Who has served in any rank whether as a combatant or non combatant in the Regular Army, Navy or Air Force of the Indian Union, and

i. who either has been retired or relieved or discharged from such service whether at his own request or being relieved by the employer after earning his or her pension; or ii. who has been relieved from such service on medical grounds attributable to military service or circumstances beyond his control and awarded medical or other disability pension; or iii. who has been released from such service as a result of reduction in establishment;
(or)
b. who has been released from such service after completing the specific period of engagement, otherwise than at his own request, or by way of dismissal, or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency and has been given a gratuity, and includes personnel of the Territorial Army namely, pension holders for continuous embodies service or broken spells of qualifying service; (or)
c. personnel of the Army Postal Service who are part of Regular Army and retired from the Army Postal Service without reversion to their parent service with pension, or are released from the Army Postal service on medical grounds attributable to or aggravated by military service or circumstance beyond their control and awarded medical or other disability pension; (or)
d. Personnel, who were on deputation in Army Postal Service for more than six months prior to the 14th April, 1987; (or)
e. Gallantry award winners of the Armed forces including personnel of Territorial Army; (or)
f. Ex-recruits boarded out or relieved on medical ground and granted medical disability pension.

(i) A Matriculate Ex-Serviceman (which includes an Ex-Serviceman, who has obtained the Indian Army Special Certificate of education or corresponding certificate in the Navy or the Air Force), who has put in not less than 15 years of service as on closing date of receipt of applications (i.e. 19-11-2018) with Armed Forces of the Union shall be considered eligible for appointment to the Group ‘C’ posts against posts reserved for ESM only. Thus, those Matriculate Ex-Servicemen who have not completed 15 years of service as on the closing date for receipt of applications are not eligible for these posts. Further, as per extant guidelines of Department of Personnel and Training deemed graduation of Indian Army Special Certificate of education or corresponding certificate in the Navy or the Air Force on completion of 15 years in Armed Forces is not applicable for Group ‘B’ posts.
(j). As per Supreme Court direction dated 24.02.1995 in Appeal No.731-69 of 1994, Age relaxation will be available for Group-‘C’ posts in the O/o RGI (Registrar General of India) for retrenched Census employees as under:-

a. Age relaxation by 3 years plus length of service rendered by them in connection with census, before retrenchment, b. Weightage of past service.

(k). Age relaxation is not admissible to sons, daughters and dependents of Ex-Servicemen. Therefore, such candidates should not indicate their category as ex-servicemen.

(a) The candidates must have passed 12th Standard or equivalent examination from a recognized Board or University.
(b) As per Ministry of Human Resource Development Notification dated 10.6.2015 published in Gazette of India all the degrees/ diplomas/ certificates including technical education degree/ diploma awarded through Open and Distance Learning mode of education by the Universities established by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature, Institutions Deemed to be Universities under Section 3 of the University Grant Commission Act 1956 and Institutions of National Importance declared under an Act of Parliament stand automatically recognized for the purpose of employment to posts and services under the Central Government provided they have been approved by the Distance Education Bureau, University Grant Commission.
(c) All candidates who are declared qualified by the Commission for Document Verification will be required to produce the relevant Certificates such as Mark sheets, Provisional Certificates etc. for completion of Intermediate/ Higher Secondary/ 10+2/ Senior Secondary in original as proof of having acquired the minimum educational qualification on or before 01-01-2020, failing which the candidature of such candidates will be cancelled by the Commission. The candidates who are able to prove, by documentary evidence, that the result of the qualifying examination was declared on or before the cut-off date and he/ she has been declared passed, will also be considered to meet the educational qualification.
(d) Order/ letter in respect of equivalent Educational Qualifications will require to be produced by the candidates at the time of Document Verification or as and when required by the Commission, indicating the Authority (with number and date) under which it has been so treated, in respect of equivalent clause in Essential Qualifications, if a candidate is claiming a particular qualification as equivalent qualification as per the requirement of the Notice of examination.

Reservation and suitability of posts for Persons with Disabilities:
(a) Reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Ex-Serviceman (ESM) and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) candidates, wherever applicable and admissible, would be as determined and communicated by the Indenting Ministries/ Departments/ Offices/ Cadres, as per extant Government Orders.
(b) Vacancies for ESM are reserved for only Group “C” posts as per extant Government Order/ Instructions.
(c) The posts of Stenographers Gr. ‘C’ have been identified suitable for the persons suffering from disabilities of One Arm (OA), One Leg (OL), Both Legs (BL), Blind (B) and LV (Low vision) as per guidelines of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. However, for Border Roads Organization (BRO), suitability of posts and requirement of physical and medicals standards will be as per details given in Annexure-XV.
(d) The posts of Stenographers Gr. ‘D’ have been identified suitable for the persons suffering from disabilities of One Arm (OA), One Leg (OL), One Arm and Leg (OAL), Both Legs (BL), Blind (B) and LV (Low vision) as per guidelines of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. However, for Border Roads Organization (BRO), suitability of posts and requirement of physical and medicals standards will be as per detail given in Annexure-XV.
(e) Please note that the posts of Stenographers are not identified suitable for Hearing Impaired persons.

(a) Candidates who wish to be considered against vacancies reserved or seek age relaxation must submit requisite certificate from the competent authority, in the prescribed format, whenever such certificates are sought by concerned Regional/ Sub Regional Offices at the time of Document Verification. Otherwise, their claim for SC/ ST/ OBC/ PWD/ ESM status will not be entertained and their candidature/ applications will be considered under the Unreserved category. The formats of the certificates are annexed with the Notice of this Examination. The certificate of disability issued under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996) will also be valid. Certificates in any other format will not be accepted.
(b) A person seeking appointment on the basis of reservation to OBCs must ensure that he/ she possesses the caste/ community certificate and does not fall in creamy layer on the crucial date. The crucial date for this purpose will be the closing date for receipt of online application i.e. 19-11-2018.
(c) Candidates may also note that in respect of the above, their candidature will remain provisional till the veracity of the concerned document is verified by the Appointing Authority. Candidates are cautioned that they will be debarred from the examination conducted by the Commission in case they fraudulently claim SC/ ST/ OBC/ PwD/ ESM status.

(a) In case of persons with benchmark disabilities in the category of blindness, locomotor disability (both arm affected-BA) and cerebral palsy, the facility of scribe is provided, if desired by the candidate. Since the posts are not identified suitable for persons with BA and cerebral palsy disabilities, therefore facility of scribe will not be admissible to such candidates.
(b) In case of other category of persons with benchmark disabilities, the provision of scribe will be provided on production of a certificate to the effect that the person concerned has physical limitation to write, and scribe is essential to write examination on his/ her behalf, from the Chief Medical Officer/ Civil Surgeon/ Medical Superintendent of a Government health care institution as per proforma at Annexure-XV.
(c) The candidate will have the discretion of opting for his/ her own scribe or the facility of scribe provided by the Commission. Appropriate choice in this regard will have to be given by the candidate in the online application form.
(d) In case the candidate opts for his/her own scribe, the qualification of the scribe should be one step below the qualification of the candidate taking the examination. The candidates with benchmark disabilities opting for own scribe shall be required to submit details of the own scribe as per proforma at Annexure-XVI. In case, subsequently it is found that the qualification of the scribe is not as declared by the candidate, then the candidate shall forfeit his/ her right to the post and claims relating thereto.
(e) A compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour of the examination will be provided to the persons who are allowed use of scribe as described at point (a) and (b) above.
(f) The candidates referred at point (a) and (b) who are allowed use of scribe but not availing the facility of scribe will also be given compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour of examination.
(g) No attendant other than the scribe for eligible candidates will be allowed inside the examination hall.