874 vacancies for one engineering-graduate post in a single state recruitment doesn’t come around often. The Rajasthan Staff Selection Board (RSSB), Jaipur — also known as RSMSSB — has released Advertisement No. 10/2026 for Junior Engineer (Kanishtha Abhiyanta) posts under a Joint/Combined Direct Recruitment covering three departments at once: Public Works Department (PWD), Water Resources Department (WRD), and Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).
The notification was released on 15 August 2026, applications opened the next day on 16 August, and the window closes 14 September 2026 at 11:59 PM. Everything runs through the Rajasthan SSO portal (sso.rajasthan.gov.in) and RSSB’s linked recruitment system — no offline mode exists for this drive.
Vacancy Split — Not Just One Number
Breaking down 874 into its real shape matters here. The Board has split the vacancies as 793 posts for the non-scheduled area of Rajasthan and 81 posts for the scheduled area — a distinction tied to Rajasthan’s tribal-area administrative zones, and one that affects both eligibility conditions and reservation calculations differently from a standard urban/rural split. Candidates who are eligible under scheduled-area provisions should check that specific eligibility clause separately rather than assuming the general category rules apply uniformly across both zones.
The three departments also don’t draw from identical pools. Civil Engineering vacancies (degree and diploma both) run across all three departments, while Mechanical and Electrical diploma vacancies are concentrated mainly within PHED, which handles water supply and sanitation infrastructure requiring that specific technical mix. A mechanical or electrical diploma holder scanning this notification expecting equal opportunity across PWD, WRD, and PHED will find the actual spread considerably narrower than a Civil candidate’s.
Eligibility
Candidates need a relevant Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering degree or diploma from a recognised institution, matched to the specific post and department applied for. Beyond the technical qualification, RSSB requires practical working knowledge of Hindi written in Devanagari script and familiarity with Rajasthani culture — a standard condition across most RSSB/RSMSSB recruitments that out-of-state applicants sometimes overlook until it’s flagged during document verification.
Age limit sits between 18 and 40 years, calculated as on 1 January 2027 — note that this cutoff date is over a year from the application window itself, not tied to today’s date or the application closing date. Standard age relaxation applies for reserved categories, women, and other eligible groups as per Rajasthan government rules.
Application Fee and the OTR System
RSSB runs on a One Time Registration (OTR) system rather than a fresh registration for every recruitment. Candidates who’ve already completed OTR for a previous RSSB/RSMSSB exam don’t need to redo it — they can proceed straight to this application using their existing OTR ID. Those applying fresh pay the OTR fee alongside their application.
The fee itself is ₹600 for General category and creamy-layer OBC/MBC candidates, and ₹400 for non-creamy-layer OBC/MBC, EWS, SC, ST, and all PwBD candidates — non-refundable once paid. One condition catches candidates from other states off guard: SC/ST/OBC/MBC/EWS candidates who reside outside Rajasthan are treated as General category for this recruitment and must pay the General fee, regardless of their category status in their home state. This mirrors a pattern seen in several other state-government recruitments this cycle — category benefits generally don’t travel across state lines.
There’s also a penalty condition worth knowing before you register: candidates who remain absent in two or more RSMSSB/RPSC exams within a single financial year face OTR suspension, with a ₹750 reactivation penalty for the first offense. This isn’t specific to the JE recruitment — it’s a system-wide RSSB rule — but it means casually registering for exams you don’t plan to sit can cost you access to future ones, including this one if you’ve already triggered it elsewhere this year.
Selection Process and Exam Pattern
Selection runs through a single Written Examination, followed by Document Verification for those who clear it. Unlike the earlier drives in this series, there’s no interview stage here — RSSB’s process for JE posts relies on the written test score plus verification, not a subjective interview round.
The exam itself is Multiple Choice Question based, conducted via Computer-Based Test, Tablet-Based Test, or offline OMR mode depending on RSSB’s final arrangement, with two sections: General Knowledge of Rajasthan (40 marks) and the candidate’s specific Engineering discipline (80 marks), for 120 marks total. One-third of a question’s allotted marks is deducted for every wrong answer, and candidates need a minimum of 40% overall to remain eligible for further selection — scoring below that cutoff removes you from consideration regardless of your relative rank.
If the paper is conducted in OMR mode, there’s a specific quirk worth knowing: each question carries five options (A through E), and if you choose not to attempt a question, you’re required to darken option E rather than leaving it blank. Leave more than 10% of questions completely unmarked — no circle darkened at all, not even the “not attempted” option — and you risk outright disqualification. This is a stricter unattempted-question rule than most candidates are used to from typical four-option MCQ exams, and it’s easy to miss if you’re used to simply skipping questions you’re unsure about.
If the exam runs across multiple sessions or phases — likely given the vacancy count and expected candidate volume — RSSB will apply normalization to adjust for difficulty variation between sessions, meaning your raw score alone won’t be your final comparative score.
Salary and Probation Terms
The post sits at Pay Matrix Level-10 under Rajasthan’s 7th Pay Commission structure, with reported gross pay in the ₹29,100 to ₹1,04,400 range. That figure, though, doesn’t apply from day one. Selected candidates are appointed as probationary trainees for a 2-year probation period, during which they receive a fixed monthly remuneration set by the state government rather than the full pay scale — and typically without the additional allowances like HRA that come once probation is confirmed. Candidates budgeting their expected starting salary around the upper pay-scale figure should adjust that expectation for the first two years.
A Mistake Candidates Repeatedly Make in Multi-Department RSSB Drives
Because this recruitment spans three departments and multiple cadres (Civil degree, Civil diploma, Mechanical diploma, Electrical diploma), a candidate eligible for more than one combination has to submit a separate online application for each department or cadre they want to be considered for — not one form with a preference order. This is the same pattern flagged in other 2026 recruitments this cycle: candidates who assume a single form with department-priority checkboxes will cover everything they’re eligible for often end up applying to only one of several options they actually qualified for, discovering the gap only after the window has closed. If you’re eligible for Civil Engineer posts in both PWD and PHED, that’s two separate applications and, in most cases, two separate fee payments.
Important Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Notification released | 15 August 2026 |
| Online application starts | 16 August 2026 |
| Online application closes | 14 September 2026, 11:59 PM |
| Written examination | Tentatively February 2027 (subject to change by RSSB) |
| Admit card | Not yet announced |
| Answer key | Not applicable yet — no exam has been conducted |
Important Links |
|
| Apply Online (SSO Portal) | click here |
| Official Notification / Board Website | click here |
| Helpdesk Email | ITCELL.RSSB@RAJASTHAN.GOV.IN |
| RSSB Helpline Number | 0141-2722520 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. When will the RSSB JE 2026 answer key be released?
Not for a while yet. The written exam itself is only tentatively scheduled for February 2027, and RSSB has explicitly reserved the right to change that date. An answer key only follows after the exam is actually conducted, so there’s realistically several months between now and any answer key release for this recruitment.
Q2. I’m eligible for Civil Engineer posts in both PWD and Water Resources Department — can I apply once and mention both as preferences?
No. A separate online application is required for each department or cadre you want to be considered for, even if you’re eligible for more than one under the same notification.
Q3. I’m an SC candidate from Uttar Pradesh — do I get the reserved-category fee and age relaxation here?
No. Candidates from outside Rajasthan who belong to SC/ST/OBC/MBC/EWS categories are treated as General category for this recruitment and must pay the General application fee, regardless of their category status in their home state.
Q4. What happens if I leave a few questions completely unattempted in the OMR-based exam?
If the exam is conducted in OMR mode, leaving a question unattempted requires darkening option E rather than leaving the circle blank. Leaving more than 10% of questions with no circle marked at all — including the “not attempted” option — can lead to disqualification.
Q5. Will I get the full Level-10 salary from day one if selected?
No. Selected candidates serve a 2-year probation period during which they receive a fixed monthly remuneration set by the state government rather than the full Level-10 pay scale and its usual allowances.
Disclaimer: Advertisement number, vacancy count and split, application dates, fee structure, OTR conditions, age limit, exam pattern, and pay scale are drawn from the official RSSB notification as reported. The written exam date remains tentative and unconfirmed as of 8 September 2026 — RSSB has stated it may change. Verify all details directly from the official source before applying: https://rssb.rajasthan.gov.in/
