Anjali Behera has been sitting on her GNM certificate for two years. She did her training at a government nursing school in Sambalpur, passed everything, got her Odisha Nursing Council registration sorted in 2024, and then nothing. Private hospitals offered her ₹10,000 a month. She was not interested. She wanted a sarkari naukri. Something stable. Something that would let her stay in Odisha.
On June 11, 2026, the Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission put up a notice that Anjali had been waiting to see for a long time. She was really looking forward to this notice from the Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission. The Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission finally did what Anjali had been waiting for.
5,989 Nursing Officer jobs are available. These jobs are in all 30 districts of Odisha. They are Group-C posts in the district cadre. The Health and Family Welfare Department of the Government of Odisha is offering these jobs. You can apply online starting June 13.
This recruitment is not small. Nearly 6,000 posts in a single notification that makes it one of the largest healthcare hiring drives Odisha has seen in recent years. The vacancies cover every district in the state, which means candidates from Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, and Sundargarh, not just Bhubaneswar, all have a shot at posting near home.
OSSSC released what they are calling a “short notification” on June 11. The basic announcement is out now. The dates are set. The eligibility is also confirmed. But we are still waiting for the detailed notification. This detailed notification will have all the details like category breakdowns and district-wise vacancy splits. It will also have the fee structure and the exam pattern. The result will be published on the website osssc.gov.in. People who are waiting for the result of the OSSSC should check the OSSSC website regularly. They should not believe everything they see on WhatsApp about the OSSSC result. Instead, they should go to the website osssc.gov.in for the correct and detailed version of the result.
Registration opens June 13. The last date to register is July 6. The full application can be submitted until July 13.
That is one month. Use it properly.
What the post actually is
Nursing Officer, Group C, district cadre. Pay scale: ₹29,200 to ₹92,300 under Level-8 of the Odisha government pay matrix.
The posting will be within your district cadre, so unlike centralized government jobs where you could end up anywhere in India, this one keeps you within Odisha’s district health system. For nursing candidates in the state, the nursing candidates think that is a big thing to consider when they are making a decision.
The posts are part of the Health and Family Welfare Department, which is in charge of district hospitals, community health centers, primary health centers, and sub-centers all over Odisha. These are frontline positions. Real patient contact. Real clinical work. Not desk jobs dressed up with a medical title.
Who is actually eligible
Two qualification routes work here.
First GNM. If you completed the general nursing and midwifery diploma from a recognized institution, you qualify on the education side. Second B.Sc. Nursing. A degree from any institution approved by the Indian Nursing Council also works.
Passing the nursing qualification alone is not enough. You must hold a valid registration certificate either from the Odisha Nursing Council or from any State Nursing Council that the Indian Nursing Council has recognized. An expired registration certificate is a problem. If yours lapsed and you have not renewed it, that needs to happen before you apply, not after.
You need to have passed 10+2 or an exam. You must also be a citizen of India.
Age: minimum 21 years, maximum 42 years. Age relaxation for reserved categories applies as per Odisha government rules the detailed notification will specify exactly how much for each category. If you are in your early-to-mid forties and belong to a reserved category, do not assume you are too old before checking the category-specific age relaxation.
The application what actually happens
Go to osssc.gov.in. That is the only address that matters. Not any other website, not a link someone sent on Telegram, not a Google result that redirects to a private coaching site.
The process has two distinct steps that candidates often confuse. Registration comes first you create your account and get your login credentials, and that window runs from June 13 to July 6. The application form submission is a separate step, and that runs until July 13. Both steps are mandatory. When you complete the registration but do not submit the application form, your application for the position will not be considered.
If you are filling out the form, the name you put down has to be the same as the name that is printed on your 10th class certificate. Not your Aadhaar name. Not what you prefer to be called. Your 10th certificate name, spelling and all. Mismatches at document verification have ended otherwise qualified candidacies before.
Photograph and signature uploads come with specific size and format requirements. These will be in the detailed notification. Upload what is asked, not a cropped selfie or a scan of your college ID photo.
Before submitting, read through the entire form once more. Then submit. Then download the confirmation and keep a printout. If the portal is slow near the deadline, you will not be able to get in touch with the support team for the portal in time. The portal being slow near the deadline is a problem because you need to be able to get help from the support team for the portal when you need it. Early submission solves that problem entirely.
Fee
The detailed notification will confirm the exact amounts. The general pattern in OSSSC recruitments is that candidates from the SC, ST, and PwBD categories of Odisha are typically exempted. General, SEBC, and EWS candidates pay a fee. Do not assume exemption verify in the detailed notification before paying or skipping payment.
The exam
The selection process has two stages. First, a computer-based test. Second, document verification for candidates who clear the written exam on merit.
There is no interview. The written exam score and merit rank determine who moves forward.
The CBT will cover GNM and B.Sc. Nursing subjects. Previous OSSSC nursing recruitment exams have included around 60 questions from nursing subjects, worth 60 marks. The detailed notification will carry the current exam pattern it may or may not match previous years exactly, so check it before assuming anything.
Exam date: not announced yet. It will come on osssc.gov.in after the application window closes.
For preparation, go back to basics. Anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, medical-surgical nursing, community health nursing, pediatric nursing, and midwifery. Nursing graduates sometimes discover during revision how much they have forgotten since their last exam. Old OSSSC nursing question papers from previous recruitment cycles are worth finding and working through not to guess questions, but to understand how the commission frames its questions and what subject balance they prefer.
What you need to keep ready
Documents. This is where applications fall apart at verification even after candidates clear the written exam.
Your 10th certificate for date of birth proof. 10+2 marksheet and passing certificate. Your GNM diploma or B.Sc. Nursing degree. The nursing council registration certificate is valid, not expired. You will need an Aadhaar card or a government photo ID. If you are from a category, then you have to give your SC certificate or your ST certificate or your SEBC certificate or your EWS certificate or your PwBD certificate that was issued by the people in charge at the right level. You also need a passport-size photo of yourself. A scanned copy of your signature.
Category certificates issued by an officer below the required designation level get rejected at verification. Check the issuing authority designation against what the notification requires. This is not a formality — it has disqualified candidates before.
Why is this worth paying attention to?
Odisha has one of the more extensive rural health networks in eastern India, and that network runs on nursing staff. District hospitals, CHCs, PHCs, and sub-centers are chronically understaffed in many districts, particularly in the interior and tribal belt. Nearly 6,000 new nursing officer positions are a meaningful addition to that system.
For nursing graduates who have been in the private sector for low pay or waiting for exactly this kind of opening, the timing is as good as it gets. The pay scale is respectable for a starting government position. The district cadre posting keeps candidates in their home region. The career trajectory in government healthcare increments, allowances, promotions, and pension is something private nursing jobs in Odisha simply cannot match.
One honest note before you go
Every detail in this article is drawn from the short notification OSSSC published on June 11, 2026. The detailed notification, which will carry category-wise vacancies, exact fee amounts, a complete exam pattern, and terms and conditions, is still to come. Read that document yourself when it appears on osssc.gov.in. Do not treat any summary, including this one, as a replacement for the official text.
If your nursing qualification is in order, your council registration is valid, and your age falls within the limit, register early, apply carefully, and start your preparation now.
The window closes July 13. That is not far away.
Looking for the latest government job notifications, admit cards, results, recruitment updates, and career opportunities? Visit BenefitsIndia.com regularly for timely updates and detailed application guides.
About The Author
