ADVERTISEMENT NO. VSSC - 332 DATED 29.03.2025

Invites application for the Following Post's

For Post Nos 1526 & 1527 (Light Vehicle Driver-A & Heavy Vehicle Driver-A):

Note:

Abbreviations:

HOW TO APPLY :

" GOVERNEMNT STRIVES TO HAVE A WORKFORCE WHICH REFLECTS GENDER BALANCE AND WOMEN CANDIDATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY"

General Conditions / Instructions

1. The posts are temporary, but likely to continue.
2. THOSE WHO POSSESS THE REQUIRED QUALIFICATION AS ON THE LAST DATE OF APPLICATION ONLY NEED TO APPLY.
3. AGE LIMIT as on (as on 15.04.2025):

   Sl. No	Post No.	Post	Age Limit
   			UR	OBC	SC	ST	EWS
   01	1526	Assistant (Rajbhasha)	28 years	31 years	28 years	28 years	28 years
   02	1527	Light Vehicle Driver-A	35 years	38 years	35 years	35 years	35 years
   03	1528	Heavy Vehicle Driver-A	35 years	38 years	35 years	35 years	35 years
   04	1529	Fireman-A	25 years	25 years	25 years	25 years	25 years
   05	1530	Cook	35 years	35 years	35 years	35 years	35 years

   • Minimum age is 18 years for all posts.
   • Ex-Servicemen, Disabled Defence Services personnel, Meritorious Sportspersons, Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD), Widows, divorced women and women judicially separated from their husbands (who are not re-married) are eligible for age relaxation as per Government of India orders.
4. For all posts mentioned above (except Fireman - A – Post No.1529), the promotion is against vacancy only. For Fireman-A (Post No.1529), the promotion is under Limited Flexible Complimenting Scheme (LFCS) / Lateral Movement Scheme.
5. The Organisation provides Medical facilities (Contributory Health Service Scheme) for self and dependants, free transport facilities/transport allowance, subsidised canteen facilities, housing accommodation subject to availability, in addition to the facilities available to the other Central Government Staff. The Centre has a well established Central School and a well-stocked Library that provides an excellent opportunity for professional development.
6. At present the place of posting is at VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram, but the selected candidates are liable to be posted in any of the Centres/Units of the Indian Space Research Organisation/Department of Space situated anywhere in India as and when required.
7. Candidates will have to produce proof of the details furnished in their applications submitted on-line as and when required..
8. Candidates should be willing to undergo biometric verification.
9. SELECTION PROCESS:

   1. Assistant (Rajbhasha) [Post No.1526]

   • The selection process consists of (1) written test and (2) skill test.
   Written test

   The written test will be of Objective type of 120 minutes duration with minimum qualifying marks as 50% marks (in Part A, B, C & D) for UR category and 40% marks (in Part A, B, C & D) for reserved categories, strictly for consideration against notified reserved vacancies.

   Written Test Pattern
   Part	Subject	No. of questions	Marks	Time	Marking
   A	Hindi language & grammar	50	50	120 minutes	Objective type (+1 and -0.25 pattern of marking)
   B	General English	50	50
   C	Quantitative Aptitude & General Knowledge	50	50
   D	General Intelligence & Reasoning	50	50

   
   Indicative Syllabus
   • Hindi Language & Grammar and General English : Questions to test the candidate’s understanding and knowledge of the languages and ability to write correctly, precisely and effectively, correct use of words, idioms & phrases etc.
   • General Intelligence & Reasoning : Verbal & non-verbal type questions on Missing Number, Repeated Series, Analogy, Venn diagram, Logical Arrangement of Words, Coding & Decoding, Sitting arrangement, ranking arrangement, Dice, Cube & Cuboid, Calendar, Number Series, Coded equation, Clock, Directions, Counting figures, Problems based on Alphabets, Sequence, Mirror and Water Image etc.
   • Quantitative Aptitude : Questions on Number System, Percentages, Profit & Loss, Discount, Ratio & Proportion, Mixer & Allegation, Averages, Simple & Compound Interest, Time & distance, Time & Work, Pipe & Cistern, Boat & Stream, Partnership, Surds & Indices, LCM & HCF, Simplification, Geometry (Triangles, Circles, Quadrilateral, Lines & Angles etc.), Mensuration (Area, Perimeter, Volume etc), Trigonometry (Trigonometric Identities, Trigonometric Ratios, Circular measures of Angles, Heights & distance etc.), Algebra (Factorisation, Coordinate Geometry, Polynomials, Sequence & Series, Algebraic identities, Linear equations etc), Statistics & data interpretation etc.
   • General Knowledge : Questions to test the candidates’ awareness of the environment around and its applications to the society, current affairs of National & International importance etc. The test will also include questions of History, Culture, Geography, Science, Polity, Economy etc and computer awareness.
   
   Skill test

   Based on the performance in the written test, candidates will be short-listed for skill test in the ratio of 1:5 (maximum) to the category-wise number of vacancies, with an aggregate minimum of 10 candidates.Skill test comprises of Computer Literacy Test and Hindi Typing Test . Pass criteria for Computer Literacy Test (60 minutes duration) is 60% marks for UR category and 50% marks for reserved categories, against notified reserved vacancies. A maximum of 5% mistakes are allowed for Hindi Typing Test for UR category and a maximum of 8% mistakes are allowed for reserved categories, against notified reserved vacancies. If sufficient numbers of candidates for empanelment (select list & wait list) do not qualify the skill test, then additional candidates will be short-listed for skill test, in the ratio of 1:5 to the extent of such short-fall.

   Indicative Syllabus of Computer Literacy Test
   • MS Word (for 35 marks) : Opening & Saving files, Editing text documents, Inserting, Deleting, Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, Redo, Find, Search, Replace, Formatting page & setting Margins, Converting files to different formats, Importing & Exporting documents, Using Tool bars, Ruler, Using icons, using help;Formatting documents- Setting font styles, font selection – style, size, colour etc., Type face – Bold, Italic, Underline, Case Settings, Highlighting, Special symbols, Setting paragraph style, Alignments, Indents, Line Space, Margins, Bullets & Numbering; Setting Page Style – Formatting Page, Page tab, Margins, Layout settings, Border & Shading, Column break and line break; Creating Tables – Table Settings, Borders, Alignments, Insertion, Deletion, Merging, Splitting, Sorting and Formula; Drawing – Inserting Clip Arts, Pictures/Files etc; Tools – Spell Checks, Mail Merge, Templates, Tracking changes, Security; Printing documents; Shortcut Keys etc.
   • MS Excel (for 35 marks) : Spreadsheet & its applications, Opening Spreadsheet, Menus – Main menu, Formula Editing, Formatting, Toolbars, Using help; Working with Spreadsheet – opening, saving files, setting margins; Spreadsheet addressing – rows, columns & cells, referring cells & selecting cells, Short-cut keys; Entering & Deleting Data- Entering data, cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, filling continuous rows/columns, highlighting values, find, search & replace, inserting data, insert cell, column/row & sheet, symbol, clipart, pictures, files etc. Inserting functions, manual breaks; Setting formula- finding total in a column/row, using other formulae; Formatting spreadsheets – Labelling columns & rows, formatting cell, row, column & sheet, Category – Alignment, font, border & shading, hiding/unhiding rows/columns, setting row height, column width; Working with sheets- Sorting, Filtering, Validation, consolidation and subtotal, creating charts – Drawing; Printing, Error checking, spell checks etc.
   • MS Power Point (for 30 marks) : new presentation, different presentation templates, setting backgrounds, selecting presentation layouts; Creating a presentation – Setting presentation style, adding text to the presentation; Formatting a presentation – Adding style, colour, gradient fills, arranging objects, adding header & footer, Slide background, Slide layout; Adding graphics to the presentation, inserting pictures, tables etc. into presentation etc.
   
   Indicative Syllabus of Hindi Typing Test
   • Candidates have to type a given passage of 250 words in Hindi at a speed of 25 words per minute on Computer using INSCRIPT keyboard with UNICODE font.
   
   

   Final selection will be based on marks scored in the written test from among the candidates who qualify in the skill test. In the event of a tie in the Written Test marks, the inter-se merit of candidates will be decided based on the following tie-breakers to be applied one after the other on need basis:

   1. Marks scored in Hindi Language & Grammar
   2. Date of birth, with older candidate placed higher.
   
   

   2. Light Vehicle Driver-A [Post No.1527] & Heavy Vehicle Driver-A [Post No.1528]

   • The selection process consists of two levels ie (1) written test and (2) skill test and the details is as follows

   Level	Selection Process
   1	Written test The written test will be conducted first and short-listing of candidates for skill test will be done based on the written test scores in the order of merit in the ratio of 1:5. The written test consists of one paper containing 100 objective questions carrying one mark each and will be of 2 hours (120 minutes) duration [Correct answers carry one mark each, wrong answers carry -0.25 mark each and unattended questions carry zero mark]. Those who secure a minimum of 50% marks in Part-A and minimum of 50% marks in Part-B, Part-C and Part-D combined in the written test will be eligible for consideration for shortlisting for skill test. Total marks obtained in all four parts of the written test will be reckoned for shortlisting for skill test. In case sufficient number of candidates to fill up reserved vacancies (SC/OBC/Ex-servicemen) are not available, relaxation of marks upto 25% will be allowed in the written test, in increasing steps, to reach required number of candidates in the prescribed ratio of 1:5 to be called for skill test for further consideration under relaxed standards.
   2	Skill test The skill test will be purely on ‘go-no-go’ basis (pass or fail) and marks obtained in the skill test will not be considered for selection. The skill test will be evaluated on a 100-point scale with minimum 60% for qualification. No relaxation is allowed to SC/OBC/Ex-servicemen candidates in the skill test. The final selection will be done amongst skill test qualified candidates, purely based on the scores obtained in the written test. From amongst candidates who qualify in the skill test with 60% marks, empanelment will be done in the order of marks obtained in the written test. In case of a tie in the written scores, the academic scores of the notified qualification will be the tie-breaker.

   The syllabus for written test and apportionment of marks for different parts of selection of Light Vehicle Driver-A (Post No.1525) and Heavy Vehicle Driver-A (Post No.1526) is as follows:

   Sl No.	Syllabus	Marks Allotted
   1	PART-A [OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS BASED ON MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988 AS AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME]
   	Various Sections of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 as amended from time to time. Licensing of Drivers of Motor Vehicles Registration of Motor Vehicles Control of Transport Vehicles Control of Traffic Insurance of Motor Vehicles Offence, Penalties and Procedure Mandatory signs Accident Claims Accident Claims Tribunals	50 marks
   2	PART-B [ENGLISH – ELEMENTARY ENGLISH OF 8TH STANDARD LEVEL]
   	Synonyms, Antonyms Use of correct verbs Choosing appropriate given words and phrases to fill-in the blanks in sentences	15 marks
   3	PART-C [ARITHMETIC – ELEMENTARY ARITHMETIC OF 10TH STANDARD LEVEL]
   	Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division Percentage, Ratio, Average	15 marks
   4	PART-D [GENERAL KNOWLEDGE]
   	General Knowledge, Current Affairs ‘Who’ is ‘Who’ States and Capitals of India Geography of India	20 marks

   3. Fireman-A (Post No.1529)

   • The prescribed Physical Fitness Standards for the post of Fireman-A is as follows.

   Parameter	Men		Women & Transgender
   	General / OBC categories	Gorkhas, Hill Tribes, SC & ST categories
   Height (minimum)	165 cm	160 cm	155 cm
   Weight (minimum)	50 kg [BMI 18-28]	46 kg [BMI 18-28]	43 kg [BMI 18-28]
   Waist to Hip Ratio	<= 1	<=1	<=1
   Chest on Expiration (min.)	81 cm	76 cm	Not Applicable
   Chest on Inspiration (min.)	86 cm	81 cm	Not Applicable
   Chest Expansion (min)	5 cm	5 cm	5 cm
   Distant Vision	6/6 without glasses or any other aid in each eye	6/6 without glasses or any other aid in each eye	6/6 without glasses or any other aid in each eye
   Near Vision**	Normal	Normal	Normal
   Field of Vision	Full	Full	Full
   Hearing	Normal (By Tuning fork tests)	Normal (By Tuning fork tests)	Normal (By Tuning fork tests)
   Psychiatry	No known psychiatric illness	No known psychiatric illness	No known psychiatric illness
   Heart Sounds	Normal	Normal	Normal
   ECG	Normal	Normal	Normal
   Respiratory Systems	Normal	Normal	Normal
   Neurological System	Normal	Normal	Normal
   Musculo-skeletal system	No clinical evidence of disease	No clinical evidence of disease	No clinical evidsence of disease
   ** Presbyopia correction is allowed in case of candidates above 40 years of age.

   
   

   The selection process consists of the following in sequence

   1. Uploading Preliminary Medical Examination (PME) Certificate (as per Annexure) along with online application

      Candidates have to upload PME Certificate issued by a Registered Medical Practitioner not below the rank of Assistant Surgeon (Allopathy) employed in Government Health Services. The PME certificate will be valid for a period of 6 months.

   2. Written Test

      After scrutiny of applications, those applicants who had uploaded valid PME certificate will be called for written test.

   3. Physical Efficiency Test (PET)

      Candidates will be shortlisted for Physical Efficiency Test (PET) in the ratio of 1:50 to the number of vacancies based on the performance in the written test.The shortlisted candidates shall participate in the PET at his/her own risk and volition. No compensation, whatsoever, is payable for any injury, disability (temporary / permanent), death, etc. attributable wholly/partially/directly/indirectly, to the applicants participation in the PET. A suitable declaration to this effect should be submitted by the applicants shortlisted for the Skill Test while attending the Skill test.

      1. Stage-1 PET

         Male Candidates To run 1500 metres in 7 minutes for age upto 40 years ( 8 minutes for candidates for age above 40 years) (Shoes with spikes not allowed) Female & Transgender Candidates To run 800 metres in 4 minutes for age upto 40 years ( 5 minutes for candidates for age above 40 years) (Shoes with spikes not allowed)

         Candidates who get qualified in the Stage-1 Physical Efficiency Test (PET) shall only be allowed to participate in Stage-2 PET

      2. Stage-2 PET (for those who qualify in Stage-1 PET only)

   4. Event	Qualifying criteria for Age upto 40 years		Qualifying criteria for Age above 40 years
      	Male candidates	Female / Transgender candidates	Male candidates	Female / Transgender candidates
      Rope climbing (by hands only)	5 metres from ground level	4.5 metres from ground level	4.5 metres from ground level	4.0 metres from ground level
      Carrying a human dummy by fireman's lift (60 kg weight for men / 50 kg weight for women & transgender)	25 metres in 60 seconds	25 metres in 75 seconds	25 metres in 75 seconds	25 metres in 90 seconds
      Long Jump (best of 3 attempts)	3.8 metres	3.5 metres	3.5 metres	3.2 metres
      Running 100 metres (Shoes with spikes not allowed)	15 seconds	17 seconds	17 seconds	17 seconds

      Qualifying in all the events is mandatory and if any candidate gets disqualified in any of the event he/she will not be allowed to proceed for further events.

   5. Detailed Medical Examination (DME) for those who qualify in Stage-2 PET only

      Those who qualify in Stage-2 PET will have to undergo Detailed Medical Examination

   6. Final Selection

      hose who qualify in DME will be considered for empanelment in the order of written test marks. In case of a tie in the written test scores, the academic scores of the notified qualification will be the tie-breaker.

      Disqualifications
      Any of the following will be a disqualification:

10. Sl No.	Disqualification Condition	Sl No.	Disqualification Condition
    1	Knock knee, bow legs, flat foot, any physical deformity of spine or any limb(congenital or acquired)	14	Hemorrhoids
    2	Night blindness	15	Any chronic illness likely to worsen over a period of time
    3	Colour blindness	16	Varicose veins
    4	Squint or any other morbid condition of the eyes, or of the eyelids of either eye liable to the risk of aggravation or recurrence.	17	Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and any other heart diseases
    5	Monocular vision	18	Seizure Disorders (EEG if required)
    6	Glaucoma	19	Bilateral Nystagmus and Positive Romberg Sign
    7	Implanted pacemaker	20	Serious Infectious diseases that are likely to be communicable to others: Lepromatous Leprosy, Active Tuberculosis with sputum positive for Tubercle Bacilli
    8	Blood pressure more than 140/90 mmHg with evidence of damage to target organs	21	Malignancy: Any Carcinoma, Multiple Myeloma and Blood dyscrasias.
    9	Anaemia (Haemoglobin<10 gm %)	22	Any other major operation by virtue of which his/her physical fitness to work in fire service has been impaired.
    10	Random Blood Sugar >180 mg/dl	23	Thyrotoxicosis and pituitary disorders
    11	Organomegaly by Clinical examination	24	Diabetes with micro vascular / macro vascular complications
    12	Hernia	25	Bronchial Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
    13	Hydrocele

    4. Cook (Post No.1530)

    The selection process consists of (1) written test and (2) skill test. The written test will be conducted first followed by skill test and short-listing will be done based on the written test scores and shortlisted candidates alone shall be called for skill test. Written test will be conducted in such a way that knowledge of the candidate is tested covering both breadth and depth of the domain. The skill test will be purely on ‘go-no-go’ basis and marks obtained in the skill test will not be considered for selection. The skill test will be evaluated on a 100 point scale with minimum 60% for qualification. From amongst candidates who qualify in the skill test with 60% marks, empanelment will be done in the order of marks obtained in the written test. In case of a tie in the written scores, the academic scores of the notified qualification will be the tie-breaker.

    Please note that the qualification prescribed above for the posts advertised is the minimum requirement and the same does not automatically make the candidates eligible for selection.

11. Only Indian Nationals need apply.
12. No interim correspondence will be entertained.
13. Canvassing in any form will be a disqualification.
14. Candidates working under Central/State Government, Public Sector Undertakings, Autonomous bodies etc. should submit 'No objection Certificate' from the present employer at the time of skill test. Further, candidates who got employment after submission of online application should also submit NOC from the present employer at the time of skill test. A candidate who fails to submit NOC as mentioned above, will not be permitted to attend skill test and his/her candidature will be cancelled.
15. In respect of OBC candidates, reservation will be available only to candidates, who do not fall in the Creamy Layer and have to upload latest OBC (non-creamy layer) certificate (valid as on 15.04.2025) issued by the Competent Authority in the prescribed format applicable for reservation in jobs under Government of India while applying and should produce the same at the time of skill test. OBC certificate must specifically include the clause regarding exclusion from Creamy Layer and should be updated/valid at the relevant point of time. Certificates with validity on a later date than 15.04.2025 will not be considered for reservation purpose. The prescribed format for producing OBC (non-creamy layer) certificate is as per Annexure-II. Further, those candidates claiming reservation under OBC category have to upload a self declaration (format as per Annexure-III) along with the OBC non-creamy layer certificate (as a single file).
16. The candidates applying against Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) quota should upload Income and Asset Certificate (valid for the financial year 2024-2025) issued by the Competent Authority in the format prescribed in DOPT OM No.36039/1/2019-Estt(Res), dated 31.01.2019 while applying and the same should be produced at the time of skill test. The Income and Asset Certificate shall be valid for the financial year 2025-26 and the financial year for computing gross annual income of the family shall be 2024-25. The prescribed format for producing Income and Asset Certificate is as per Annexure-IV.
17. In the case of candidates who claim concession/relaxations being Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), Certificate of Physical Disability issued by the Competent Authority should be uploaded while applying and the same shall be produced at the time of skill test.
18. The candidates claiming concession/relaxation under Ex-servicemen category shall upload the relevant certificate issued by the Competent Authority while applying and the same shall be produced at the time of skill test.
19. PAYMENT OF APPLICATION FEE:
    

    Initially, all applicants have to uniformly pay Rs.750 as application fee. Female / Scheduled Castes (SC) / Scheduled Tribes (ST) / Ex-servicemen [EX-SM] and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PWBD) candidates will be refunded full fee subject to the condition that the candidates should appear in the written test. For other candidates, an amount of Rs.500 will be refunded in due course duly deducting bank charges as applicable on appearing written test. Fee may be paid online through Credit Card / Debit Card / Internet Banking / UPI only through Integrated SBI ePay facility. No other mode of payment will be acceptable. All applicable service charges for payment of fee shall be borne by the applicant. The application fee paid by the candidates whose application is incomplete or those who have not submitted their application or whose application is rejected, will not be refunded. The applicants shall correctly furnish Bank details for the purpose of Refund of application fee viz. Account No., IFS Code, Name of Bank, Name of Branch and Name of the Account Holder. VSSC will not be held responsible for any issue arising in refund of the application fee as a result of incorrect entry of bank details by the applicant in the online application. In this regard, the applicants belonging to the following categories are required to upload their relevant certificates as follows

    1. SC/ST candidates – SC/ST certificate
    2. Ex-servicemen candidates – Discharge certificate
    3. PwBD candidates – Disability certificate
20. WRITTEN TEST:

    The Written Test for recruitment will be conducted at the following Cities tentatively:

21. Sl No.	State/UT	Examination City	Sl No.	State/UT	Examination City
    1	Andhra Pradesh	Visakhapatnam	14	Meghalaya	Shillong
    2	Assam	Guwahati	15	Odisha	Bhubaneshwar
    3	Bihar	Patna	16	Goa	Panaji
    4	Delhi	New Delhi	17	Chattisgarh	Raipur
    5	Gujarat	Ahmedabad	18	Rajasthan	Jaipur
    6	Haryana / Punjab	Chandigarh	19	Jharkhand	Ranchi
    7	Jammu & Kashmir	Srinagar	20	Tamil Nadu	Chennai
    8	Karnataka	Bengaluru	21	Tamil Nadu	Madurai
    9	Kerala	Ernakulam	22	Telengana	Hyderabad
    10	Kerala	Kozhikode	23	Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow
    11	Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram	24	Uttarakhand	Dehradun
    12	Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal	25	West Bengal	Kolkata
    13	Maharashtra	Mumbai

    VSSC reserves the right to prune the above list. Candidates are required to choose 03 cities in the order of preference among the above. Allotment of Examination City as opted by a candidate will be strictly subject to administrative exigencies. In case it is not feasible to accommodate any candidate in the opted City, he/she will be assigned the next feasible Examination Cities as per the candidates choice. If it is decided by VSSC not to accommodate the candidates in any of the opted cities, he/she will be allotted to Thiruvananthapuram. The decision of VSSC on this matter will be final and binding on the candidate.

22. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION:
    

    Upon on-line registration, applicants will be provided with an on-line Registration Number, which should be carefully preserved for future reference. The candidates are also advised to take a printout of the online application for future reference.

23. The applicants need not send any documents by post such as printout of online application, copies of certificates / mark lists in proof of educational qualification, work experience, age etc.
24. It may be noted that corrigendum, if any, related to any modifications to the advertisement will be notified in VSSC website only and will not be notified/advertised in newspapers.

Note : In case of submission of duplicate/multiple applications the latest application against which the ‘application fee’ has been received within the last date of payment of application fee only will be considered.