Indian Forest Service Exam: Apply by March 22

Kochi, Feb 21, 2010: A competitive examination for recruitment to the Indian Forest Service will be held by the Union Public Service Commission commencing on the 10th July, 2010 in accordance with the Rules published by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in the Gazette of India dated the 20th Feburary, 2010.

The centres and the date of holding the examination are mentioned below but are liable to be changed at the discretion of the commission. The are AGARTALA, GANGTOK, PANAJI (GOA), AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, PATNA, AIZAWL, IMPHAL, PORT BLAIR, ALLAHABAD, ITANAGAR, RAIPUR, BANGALORE, JAIPUR, RANCHI, BAREILLY, JAMMU, SAMBALPUR, BHOPAL, JORHAT, SHILLONG, CHANDIGARH, KOCHI, SHIMLA, CHENNAI, KOHIMA, SRINAGAR, CUTTACK, KOLKATA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEHRADUN, LUCKNOW, TIRUPATI, DELHI, MADURAI, UDAIPUR, DHARWAD, MUMBAI, VISHAKHAPATNAM, DISPUR and NAGPUR. 

While every effort will be made to allot the candidates the centre of their choice for examination, the commission may, at their discretion, allot a different centre to a candidate when circumstances so warrant.

2. The number of vacancies to be filled on the results of the examination is expected to be approximately 84. The number of vacancies is liable to alteration.  

Reservation will be made for candidates belongings to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government.  However, no reserved post for physically disabled categories has been identified by the M/o Environment & Forest.

3. Eligibility Conditions:

(i) Nationality

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 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India. or
(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Srilanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, 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) 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 may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him by the Government of India.

(ii) Age Limits :

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on 1st July, 2010, i.e. he must have been born not earlier than 2nd July, 1980 and not later than 1st July, 1989.

(b) The upper age limit prescribed above will be relaxable:

(i) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.
(ii) upto a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.
(iii) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from the 1st January, 1980 to the 31st day of December, 1989.
(iv) upto a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof:
(v) upto a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen  including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st July, 2010 and have been released (i) on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st July, 2010) otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency, or (ii) on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service, or (iii) on invalidment.
(vi) Upto a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st July, 2010 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three month's notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.
(vii) upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and orthopaedically handicapped persons.

(iii) Minimum Educational Qualifications :

The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s degree with at least one of the subjects namely Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology or a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Forestry or in Engineering of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University Under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.

Note I: Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the Commission’s examination but have not been informed of the results as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to this examination. Such candidates will be admitted to the examination if otherwise eligible but their admission would be deemed to be provisional and subject to cancellation, if they do not produce proof of having passed the requisite examination along with the detailed application which will be required to be submitted to the Commission by the candidates who qualify on the result of the written part of the examination.

Note II : In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate who has not any of the foregoing qualifications as a qualified candidate provided that he/she has passed examination conducted by the other Institutions, the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his/her admission to the examination.

(iv) Number of attempts :

Every candidate appearing at the Examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted four attempts at the examination.

The restriction is effective from the examination held in 1984.

Provided that this restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates who are otherwise eligible.

Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes, who are otherwise eligible, shall be seven.

LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS :

    All offline applications must reach the "Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New     Delhi - 110069" either by hand or by Post/Speed Post or by Courier, on or before the 22nd March, 2010. The candidate should note that applications will be received by hand only one at a time at the designated counter(s) and not in bulk till 5 PM only.      

         However, in respect of candidates residing abroad or in certain remote localities specified in this notice the last date for receipt of applications by Post/Speed Post only (not by Hand or by Courier) is 29th March,  2010.

 FACILITATION COUNTER FOR GUIDANCE OF CANDIDATES :

    In case of any guidance/information/clarification regarding their applications, candidature etc. candidates can contact UPSC's Facilitation Counter near 'C' gate of its campus in person or over Telephone No. 011-23385271/FAX No. 011-23381125/011-23098543 on working days between 10.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs.

FEE:

A candidate seeking admission to examination must pay to the Commission a fee of Rs. 100.00 (Rupees One Hundred only) through a single Central Recruitment Fee Stamp of the requisite denomination (NOT postage stamps) may be obtained from the post office and affixed on the application form in the space provided therein. The stamp must be got cancelled from the issuing Post Office with the date stamp of the post office in such a manner that the impression of the cancellation mark partially overflow on the application form itself but within the space provided on the form. The impression of the cancellation mark should be clear and distinct to facilitate the identification of date and the Post Office of issue.

Candidates residing abroad should deposit the prescribed fee in the office of India's High Commissioner, Ambassador or representative abroad as the case may be for credit to account head "051-Public Service Commission-Examination Fees" and attach the receipt with the application.

All female candidates and candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes are not required to pay any fee. No Fee exemption is, However, Available to OBC Candidates and they are required to pay the prescribed full fee.

Physically disabled persons are exempted from the payment of fee provided they are otherwise eligible for appointment to the Services/Posts to be filled on the results of this examination on the basis of the standards of medical fitness for these Services/Posts (including any concessions specifically extended to the physically disabled). A physically disabled candidate claiming age relaxation/fee concession will be required by the Commission to submit along with his/her detailed application form, a certified copy of the certificate from a Government Hospital/Medical Board in support of his/her claim for being physically disabled.

Candidates should note that the fee sent through Indian Postal Orders, Bank Draft, Money Order, Crossed Cheque, Currency notes or Treasury Challan etc. will not be accepted by the Commission and such applications will be treated as without fee and will be summarily rejected.

How to Apply:

(a) The Commission proposes to make available online application submission for Indian Forest Service Examination 2010 from 27th February 2010 to 15th March 2010 for which a separate notice is to be issued.

(b) The UPSC have developed an application form common for all their examinations which will be processed on computerised machines. This application form alongwith an Information Brochure containing general instructions for filling up the form, an acknowledegment card and an envelope for sending the application is obtainable from the designated Head Post Offices/Post Offices throughout the country against cash payment of Rs. 20/- (Rupees twenty only). This form can be used only once and for only one examination. Candidates, who wish to apply offline, must use the form supplied with the Information Brochure only and they should in no case use photocopy/reproduction/unauthorisedly printed copy of the Form. Since this form is electronically scannable, due care should be taken to fill up the application form, correctly. The candidate should also fill up in the relevant places of the Acknowledgement Card, their Application Form Number (8-digit) and the name of the examination. The applicant are required to affix the postage stamp of Rs.6/- on the Acknowledgement Cards and send the same along with application form to UPSC.  If an applicant fails to affix the postage stamp of requisite amount his acknowledgement card will not be dispatched and Commission will not be responsible for non-receipt of acknowledgement card by the applicant.  The duly filled in application form and the acknowledgement card should then be mailed in the special envelope supplied with the Information Brochure. The candidates should also write the name of examination viz. "Indian Forest Service Examination, 2010" on the envelope before despatching it to "Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110069".

(c) All candidates, whether already in Government Service, or in Government owned industrial undertakings or other similar organisations or in private employment should submit their applications direct to the Commission. If any candidate forwards his application through his/her employer and it reaches the Union Public Service Commission late, the application, even if submitted to the employer before the closing date, will not be considered.

Persons already in Government service, whether in a permanent or temporary capacity or as workcharged employees other than casual or daily rated employees or those serving under Public Enterprises are however, required to submit an undertaking that they have informed in writing their Head of Office/Department that they have applied for the Examination.

Candidates are not required to submit along with their applications any certificate(s) in support of their claims regarding Age, Educational Qualifications, Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes and Physically disabled etc.

Last date for receipt of offline applications :

(i) The completed offline Application Form must reach the Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi 110069 on or before 22nd March, 2010.

(ii) In respect of offline applications received only by post (by post/speed post) from the candidates residing in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Lahaul and Spiti District and Pangi Sub-Division of Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands or Lakshadweep or abroad, the last date for receipt of applications is 29th March, 2010. The benefit of extended time will be available only in respect of applications received by post/speed post from the above mentioned areas/regions. In the case of applications received by hand or through courier service, benefit of extended time will not be available regardless of the place of residence of the applicant.

Candidates who are claiming the benefit of extended time should clearly indicate in column 13 (II) of the application form, the area code of the particular area or region (e.g. Assam, Meghalaya, J&K etc.) where they are residing. In case they fail to do so, the benefit of extended time will not be allowed to them.

Acknowledgement of applications :

Immediately on receipt of an application from a candidate, the Acknowledgement Card submitted by him along with the application form will be despatched to him by the Commission’s office duly stamped in token of receipt of his Application. If a candidate does not receive the Acknowledgement Card within 30 days, he should at once contact the Commission by quoting his Application Form No. (8-digit) and name & year of examination. Candidates delivering the application form in person at the Commission’s Counter will be issued Acknowledgement Card at the Counter itself. The mere fact that the Commission has acknowledged a candidate’s application does not mean that the Commission has accepted his/her candidature for the examination.  Candidates will be informed at the earliest possible about their admission to the examination or rejection of their application.

Correspondence with the Commission:

The Commission will not enter into any correspondence with the candidates about their candidature except in the following cases:

(i) Every candidate for this examination will be informed at the earliest possible date of the result of his application. Admission certificates, indicating the Roll Nos. will be issued to the candidates who are admitted to the examination. The admission certificate will bear the photograph of the candidate. If a candidate does not receive his admission certificate or any other communication regarding his candidature for the examination 3 weeks before the commencement of the examination, he should at once contact the Commission. On receipt of such a communication, Admission certificate or a duplicate copy thereto will be issued to the admitted candidate. Information in this regard can also be obtained from the Facilitation Counter located in the Commission’s Office either in person or over phone Nos.011- 23381125/23385271/ 23098543. In case no communication is received in the Commission's office from the candidate regarding non-receipt of his admission certificate at least 3 weeks before the examination, he himself will be solely responsible for non-receipt of his admission certificate. It may be noted that the Admission Certificate will be issued at the address as photocopied from the application form filled in by the candidate. The candidate should, therefore, ensure that address given by him in the application form is correct and complete with pin code.

All communications to the commission should invariably contain the following particulars.

1. Name and year of the examination.
2. Application Form Number (8-digit)
3. Roll Number (if received)
4. Name of candidate (in full and in block letters)
5. Complete postal address as given in the application.

Post offices where application forms are available