Last Date for Submission of Application is on 4th March, 2021.
No.of Posts and Vacancies :-
Horticulture Development Officer - 15 Posts
Qualification Details:
Advertisement Number : 1/1-2021
Online Recruitment Applications (ORA*) are invitedfrom desirous and eligible candidates for recruitment to the posts of Horticulture Development Officers, Class-I (Gazetted) (oncontract basis) under the Department of Horticulture, H.P. throughORA, which shall be available on the Commission’s website www.hppsc.hp.gov.in/hppsc.
a. Name of the Post: Horticulture Development Officer
b. No. of posts: 01
c. Pay scale: 10300-34800 (G.P.5000)
d. Essential Qualification(s): M.Sc. Horticulture/Agriculture in any one of the following disciplines/Subjects: Pomology, Fruit Breeding & Genetic Resources, Post Harvest Technology/Fruit Technology,Floriculture & Land Scaping, Mycology & Plant Pathology/Entomoloy & Apiculture or Biotechnology, Vegetable Crops, Microbiology, Soil Science & water Management, Agriculture Economics & Agriculture Statistics, Agriculture Extension, M.Sc. Food Technology,Master of Science (Horticulture) Fruit Science, Master of Science (Horticulture) Vegetable Science, Master of Science (Horticulture) Floriculture and Land Scape Architecture, Master of Science (Agriculture) Plant Pathology, , Master of Science (Agriculture) Entomology,Master of Science (Agriculture) Nematology, Master of Science (Agriculture) , Seed Science and Technology, Master of Science (Agriculture) Soil Science, Master of Science (Agriculture), Agricultural Economics,Master of Science Food Technology, Master of Science Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Master of Science Microbiology, Master of Science Statistics and Post Graduate Associateship in Fruit and Vegetable Technology equivalent to M.Sc. Horticulture(Post Harvest Technology) and Master of Science(Agriculture) Specialization in Plant Breeding & Genetics. However, the incumbents should be B.Sc.(Horticulture/Agriculture) with Horticulture as elective subject or B.Sc. (Hons.) Horticulture/Agriculture with Horticulture as elective subject in four years degree program.
e. Desirable Qualification: Knowledge of custom manners and dialects of Himachal Pradesh and suitability for appointment in the peculiar conditions prevailing in the Pradesh.
f. Eligibility conditions:
1. The date of determining the eligibility of all candidates in terms of essential qualification(s), experience etc., if any, shall be reckoned as on the closing date for submission of Online Recruitment Applications throughORA portal.
2. The reserved category candidates falling under vertical reservation i.e. S.C. / S.T. /O.B.C./E.W.S. who are appointed on their own merit and not owing to reservation will not be adjusted against reserved points and they will be adjusted against unreserved points. The S.C. / S.T. candidate appointed on their own merit (by direct recruitment or promotion) and adjusted against unreserved points will retain their status of S.C. / S.T. and will be eligible to get benefit of reservation in future / further promotions, if any. However, only such S.C. / S.T. / O.B.C. / E.W.S. candidates falling under vertical reservation who are selected on the same standard as applied to general candidates shall not be adjusted against reserved vacancies. In other words, when a relaxed standard is applied at any tage of selection process in selecting S.C. / S.T. / O.B.C. / E.W.S. candidates, for example in the age-limit, experience, qualification, permitted number of chances in written examination (screening test / written examination), extended zone of consideration larger than what is provided for general category candidates etc., the S.C. / S.T. / O.B.C. / E.W.S. candidates are to be counted against reserved vacancies. Such candidates would be deemed as unavailable for consideration against unreserved vacancies in accordance with the instructions of the Government (in the Department of Personnel) issued vide letter No. PER (AP)- C-F (1)-2/2001 dated 12th November, 2014. The candidates belonging to reserved categories falling under horizontal reservation i.e. Ex-servicemen / Wards of Ex-servicemen, Children / Grand Children of Freedom Fighters (W.F.F.), Persons with Disabilities and Distinguished Sportspersons who acquire merit / marks on at par with the purely general candidates shall not be selected /
appointed against general / unreserved posts and will be adjusted against the post reserved for respective category falling under horizontal reservation. However, it does not debar or preclude a candidate falling under vertical / horizontal reservation from applying and competing for any unreserved post subject to his / her eligibility and clearing the written test / personality test successfully without any relaxation.
3. For recruitment to the post(s) to be filled up on the basis of experience, it will be necessary for the candidates to have the required experience for determining his/ her eligibility after acquiring the requisite essential educational qualification(s) or as per the notified provision(s) of the Recruitment & Promotion Rules, as the case may be.
4. The decision of the Commission regarding eligibility etc. of a candidate for admission to Personality Test or selection will be final and no correspondence / personal enquiries will be entertained.
5. Onus of proving that a candidate has acquired requisite degree/ essential qualification by the stipulated date, shall be on the candidate and in the absence of proof to the contrary, the date as mentioned on the face of certificate/ degree or the date of issue of certificate/degree shall be taken as date of acquiring essential educational qualification. No extra opportunity shall be provided to the candidates to produce appropriate certificates at the time of personality test(s).
6. In respect of equivalent clause in Essential Qualifications, if a candidate is claiming a particular qualification as equivalent qualification as per the requirement of advertisement, then the candidate is required to produce order/ letter in this regard, indicating the Authority (with number and date) under which it has been so treated otherwise the candidature/Online Application is liable to be rejected.
Age:
18 to 45 years
Application Fee:
General Category/EWS - 400/, S.C. of H.P. /S.T. of H.P. /O.B.C./BPL of H.P./EWS (BPL) - 100/-, Female candidates/Ex-Servicemen of H.P: No Fee
Documents Required:
1. Matriculation certificate for age proof.
2. Degree certificate along with Marks Sheets of all years in support ofEducational Qualifications. The provisional certificate(s) along with marks sheets of all semesters/ years.
3. Category certificate(s) in support of their eligibility, if any, viz., S.C., S.T., O.B.C., E.W.S., Ex-Servicemen, Ward of Ex. Servicemen, WFF and Persons with disabilities etc. All these certificates along withundertaking wherever required, should be on Performa prescribed by the Government of H.P. from time to time. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Certificates should be in accordance withthe instructions of the Govt. issued vide letter No.PER(AP)- CF(10)-4/2010 dated 5th August, 2019.
4. Bonafide Himachali Certificate in case of reserved category candidates.
Important Instructions:
1. Date for determining eligibility of all candidates in respect of essential qualification(s) and experience, if any, etc., shall be the prescribed closing date for submission of Online Recruitment Applications (ORA).
2. The candidates must read instructions carefully, which are available on website of the Commission before applying for the post(s) concerned.
3. The candidates must establish their eligibility in respect of category, experience, age and essential qualification(s) etc. as mentioned in the advertisement by uploading copies of certificates of essential qualification, Matriculation certificate as age proof, category certificate and experience certificate (where required) to avoid rejection of their candidature after the closing date.
4. The benefit of reservation for various post(s) will be admissible only to the candidates, who are bonafide residents of Himachal Pradesh inrespect of categories, viz., S.C., S.T., O.B.C., E.W.S., Ex-ServicemenW, .F.F. and Persons with disabilities (Loco motor Disabled / Visually Impaired/Hearing Impaired)etc.
5. Category once claimed shall be treated final and no representation /correspondence will be entertained in this regard.
6. The reserved category candidates belonging to other States will be treated as GENERAL CATEGORYCANDIDATES and the benefit of reservation and fee concession will not be admissible to such candidates.
7. The candidates should possess requisite essential qualification(s) prescribed for the post(s) for which he/she wants to apply as on closing date for submission of Online Recruitment Applications (ORA) on the website www.hppsc.hp.gov.in/hppsc
8. Number of post(s) is/are tentative and may increase or decrease from time to time.
9. No in service (regular service)candidate will be interviewed unless he /she brings N.O.C. from the concerned employer.
10. Examination fees once paid will not be refunded under any circumstances nor can the fees be held in reserve for any other examination or selection.
11. Disputes, if any, shall be subject to Court jurisdiction at Shimla (Himachal Pradesh).
12. The candidates are required to upload the requisite documents on the OTRS portal.
13. In cases where the number of eligible candidates for recruitment to the post(s) advertised by the Commission is inordinately large, the Commission may limit /shortlist the number of eligible candidates to be called for personality test(s) by subjecting them to either Computer Based Screening Test (objective-type) or Offline Screening Test (objective) of Two hours duration. Marks obtained in the Screening Test are only meant to short list the number of candidates for personality test(s) and are in no way to be presumed by the candidates as being their merit for final selection
Other Conditions
1. All candidates, whether in Government Service or Government owned Industrial or Public Enterprises or other similar organizations or in private employment should submit their applications online directly to the Commission. Persons already in regular Government service, whether in a permanent or temporary capacity are required to submit a declaration that they have informed in writing to their Head of Office/ Department that they have applied for a particular post. In case, a communication is received from their employer by the Commission withholding permission to any candidate applying for/appearing for the examination, his/her application(s) will be liable to be rejected.
2. Contract / Casual / adhoc/ daily rated/ work charged employees do not need to produce NOC from the concerned employer.
3. In Government service (regular service) candidates may apply to the Commission along with requisite examination fees with information to their Head of Departments / Employer for issuing NOC. Any candidates, who are in regular Government Service or Government owned Industrial service, will not be interviewed unless he/she produces NOC from the concerned employer.
4. It may be ensured by the candidates before submitting the applications that furnishing of false information and documents or suppression of any factual information in the application form would entail disqualification. If the fact that false information / document(s) has been furnished or that there has been suppression of any factual information in the application ; comes to the notice at any time during the service of a person, his service would be liable to be terminated.
5. The candidates applying for the posts should ensure that they fulfill all the eligibility conditions for admission to the examination. Their admission at all stages of Screening Test/ examination for which they are admitted by the Commission, viz., written examination and Personality Test will be purely provisional, subject to their satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions. If on verification at any time before or after the written examination or Personality Test, it is found that they do not fulfill any of the eligibility conditions; their candidature for the concerned post / examination will be cancelled by the Commission.
6. Candidate, who is or has been declared by the Commission to be guilty of:-
(a) Obtaining support for his/her candidature by the following means, namely:- · offering illegal gratification to, or · applying pressure on, or · blackmailing, or threatening to black mail any person connected with the conduct of the examination, or
(b) impersonating, or
(c) procuring impersonation by any person, or
(d) uploading /submitting fabricated document or documents which have been tampered with, or
(e) making statements which are incorrect or false or suppressing material information, or
(f) resorting to the following means in connection with his/her candidature for the examination, namely:- · obtaining copy of question paper through improper means, · finding out the particulars of the persons connected with secret work relating to the examination, influencing the examiners, or
(g) using unfair means during the examination, or
(h) writing obscene matter or drawing obscene sketches in the scripts, or
(i) misbehaving in the examination hall including tearing of the scripts, provoking fellow examinees to boycott examination, creating disorderly scene and the like, or
(j) harassing or doing bodily harm to the staff employed by the Commission for the conduct of their examinations, or
(k) being in possession of or using mobile phone, pager or any electronic equipment or device or any other equipment capable of being used as a communication device during the examination; or
(l) violating any of the instructions issued to candidates along with their admission certificates permitting the m to take the examination, or
(m) attempting to commit or as the case may be abetting the commission of all or any of the acts specified in the foregoing clauses; may in addition to rendering himself/herself liable to criminal prosecution, be liable:- to be disqualified by the Commission from the examination for which he/she is a candidate and/or
(n) to be debarred either permanently or for as specified period:-
by the Commission from any examination or selection held by them. by the Central Government from any employment under them ,and
(o) if he/she is already in service under Government to disciplinary action under the appropriate Rules. Provided that no penalty under these Rules shall be imposed except after:-
· giving the candidate an opportunity of making such representation, in writing as he/she may wish to make in that behalf ;and · taking the representation, if any, submitted by the candidate within the period allowed to him/her into consideration.
7. The centres of holding the examination(s)are liable to be changed at the discretion of the Commission. However, every effort will be made to allot the examination centre(s) of their choice to the candidates. But, the Commission may, at its discretion, allot a different centre to a candidate when circumstances so warrant.
Selection Process :
Computer Based Test / Offline Test (Objective Or Descriptive/ Examination/ Personality Test/ Final Selection:-
1 (i) In cases where the number of eligible candidates for recruitment to the post(s) advertised by the Commission is inordinately large, the Commission may limit / shortlist the number of eligible candidates to be called for personality test(s) by subjecting them to either Computer based Screening Test (objective-type) or Offline Screening Test (objective / descriptive) of two hours duration. Marks obtained in the Screening Test are only meant to short list the number of candidates for personality test(s) and are in no way to be presumed by the candidates as being their merit for final selection. Minimum pass marks in Computer Based Test / Offline Test (objective or descriptive) are 25% for the candidates of General category and 20% for the candidates of reserved categories. Any correlation drawn by the candidates between their score in the Screening Test and final merit at a later stage is completely unwarranted. No representation(s) shall be entertained in this regard. Final selection of a candidate will be made
solely on the basis of his/ her performance in the Personality Test, which will be of maximum 100 marks. The minimum pass marks in personality test are 45 for the candidates of general category and 35 marks for the candidates of reserved categories.
(ii) (a) Where selection is to be made on the basis of performance of the candidates having qualified the Computer Based Test / Offline Test (objective or descriptive), before the Personality Test Board, a candidate scoring more marks in the Personality Test shall be placed above the candidate scoring lesser marks in the Personality Test. If the candidates will score equal marks in the Personality Test, then a candidate securing more marks in the Computer Based Test / Offline Test (objective or descriptive) will be placed above the candidate securing lesser marks in the Computer Based Test / Offline Test (objective / descriptive). In case the marks of Computer Based Test / Offline Test (objective or descriptive) are equal then the candidate who is senior in age will be placed above the candidate junior in age
(b) Where selection is to be made purely on the basis of performance of the candidates before the Personality Test Board, a candidate scoring more marks in the Personality Test shall be placed above the candidate scoring lesser marks in the Personality Test. If the candidates will score equal marks in the Personality Test, then a candidate who is senior in age will be placed above the candidate junior in age.
(iii) In the Computer Based Test (CBT) (objective type) there will be 100 questions of 01 mark each on the basis of syllabus approved by the Commission for the test. Each question will be followed by four (a, b, c. d) answer options. The candidate will have to click on the circle adjacent to the option he / she thinks is correct.
a. The answer key of CBT (objective type) shall be uploaded online on the ‘My Examination My Online Review’ in the User IDs of all appeared candidates immediately after its conduct for inviting objection(s) for which 03 (three) days time from the day of publishing of answer key (day of publishing of the answer key plus 3 (three) next days upto 11.59 P.M. of the last date of receipt of objections after which the link will be disabled) shall be given to them to submit their objection(s) in online mode only.
b. Objection(s) submitted in any other mode will not be entertained. The received objection(s), if any, will be got verified from the concerned Subject Expert / Paper Setter. Based on the opinion / decision of the concerned Subject Expert / Paper Setter to the objection(s) raised by the candidates the revised answer key shall be prepared & finalized. After finalization of answer key category-wise zone of consideration in the ratio of 1:4 in the case of 20 & above categorywise posts advertised, in the ratio of 1:5 in the case of 11 to 19 category-wise posts advertised and in the ratio of 1:6 + 3 in the case of 10 or less than 10 category-wise posts advertised will be prepared and provided by the Secrecy Cell on the basis of performance of the candidates in the CBT to check their eligibility by the Branch responsible for making direct recruitment on the basis of documents uploaded by them on the OTRS portal submitted on the day of CBT.
c. In case the number of candidate(s) to be declared qualified for personality test fall(s) below the prescribed ratio then to meet this shortfall an additional category wise zone of consideration as per requirement shall be prepared by the Secrecy Cell. In respect of the scrapped question(s) no credit to appeared candidates shall be given. The final answer key along with question paper shall be uploaded on the website of the Commission immediately after the declaration of the result of the CBT. No objection(s) / representation(s) shall be entertained against the final answer key.
(iv) In the offline Screening Test (objective type) (except Preliminary Examinations) there will be 100 questions of 01 mark each on the basis of syllabus approved by the Commission for the test. Each question will be followed by four (a, b, c. d) answer options.
a. The candidate will have to encircle / blacken the option he / she thinks is right / correct on the OMR answer sheet with blue / black ball pen. The answer key of offline Screening Test (objective type) shall be uploaded on the website of the Commission immediately after the conduct of offline screening test for inviting objections from the appeared candidates for which 07 (seven) days time (day of publishing the key plus seven days upto 05.00 P.M. of the prescribed last date of receipt of objections) shall be given.
b. The received objection(s), if any, will be got verified from the concerned Subject Expert / Paper Setter. Based on the opinion / decision of the concerned Subject Expert / Paper Setter to the objection(s) raised by the candidates the revised answer key shall be prepared & finalized. After finalization of answer key the OMR answer sheets of the candidates who appeared in the offline Screening Test shall be scanned in the OMR Scanner and evaluated by using the final answer key to prepare a category-wise zone of consideration in the ratio of 1:4 in the case of 20 & above category-wise posts advertised, in the ratio of 1:5 in the case of 11 to 19 category-wise posts advertised and in the ratio of 1:6 + 3 in the case of 10 or less than 10 category-wise posts advertised will be prepared by the Secrecy Cell on the basis of performance of the candidates in the offline Screening Test, to check their eligibility by the Branch responsible for making direct recruitment on the basis of documents uploaded by them on the OTRS portal submitted on the day of offline Screening Test.
c. In case the number of candidate(s) to be declared qualified for personality test fall(s) below the prescribed ratio i.e. six candidates for a single post and three candidates for every subsequent post then to meet this shortfall an additional zone of consideration as per requirement shall be prepared by the Secrecy Cell. In respect of scrapped question(s) no credit to appeared candidates shall be given. The final answer key shall be uploaded on the website of the Commission immediately after the declaration of the result of the offline screening Test. No objection(s) / representation(s) shall be entertained against the final answer key.
(v) There will be negative marking for incorrect answers (as detailed below) for all questions:-
a. There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one fourth (0.25) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty
b. If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happen to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question.
c. If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.
d. Where there will be two correct answers instead of one correct answer out of four options of a question, all those candidates who will click / encode any one of these two correct answers will be awarded marks allotted to that question.
2. (i) The marks of all candidates (successful & unsuccessful) obtained by them in the screening test (CBT / Offline) / written (Preliminary & Main) examinations and Personality Tests (if appeared) including cut off marks in their category shall be made available in their login / User IDs by the Computer Cell on receipt of the same from the officer(s) dealing with Secrecy after declaration of the final result.
(ii) For more information of candidates, HPPSC (PROCEDURE & TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS AND PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF EXAMINATIONS & PERSONALITYTESTS ETC) RULES, 2018 is available on Commission’s website.
(iii) The eligibility of candidate(s) called for the Personality Test will be determined on the basis of original documents produced on the day of Personality Test and the Commission will not be responsible if the candidature of any candidate is rejected at that stage or at the time of verification by the Appointing Authority. As such, admission to the Screening Test/ Examination/ Personality Test shall be purely provisional.
(iv) Summoning of the candidate(s) for Personality Test; conveys no assurance whatsoever that they will be selected or recommended. Appointment orders to the selected candidate(s) will be issued by the appropriate Appointing Authority.
(v) If any person with disability requires scribe/ reader, having disability of 40% or more, he / she has to request for the same in writing to the Commission along with copy of disability certificate issued by the competent authority at least seven days prior to the screening test (Computer Based Test/ Offline Test) for the concerned post. Such applications will be entertained on merit and as per rules.
(vi). Re-checking/ re-evaluation, for the written examination(s)/ Screening Tests (Computer Based Test/ Offline Test) will not be allowed in any case.
How to Apply :
Detailed instructions for filling up Online Recruitment Applications (ORA) are available on the above mentioned website.
a) Desirous/ eligible candidates must have to apply online through official website of the Commission http://www.hppsc.hp.gov.in/hppsc. Applications received through any other mode would not be accepted and will be rejected straightway.
b) The candidates s hould exercise due care while entering their Mobile Numbers and e-mail IDs in the Online RecruitmentApplications (ORA) for immediate intimation with regard to their application.
c) The desirous & eligible candidate may visit the official website of the Commission (http://www.hppsc.hp.gov.in/hppsc) and click on the link “Apply Online” on the Home Page. The candidate will register and create his/ her profile on ‘One Time Registration’ and after logging into his/ her account in OTR. the list of advertisements will be displayed to the candidate on Page 3 of 10 dashboard. Candidate will apply for a particular post through portal.
1. The application of the candidate will be submitted only after uploading of requisite documents as per advertisement. Before submission of application the candidate will be shown the preview of uploaded documents and he/ shall give an undertaking/ declaration that:
2.“It is certified that I have checked the preview of all the requisite uploaded documents and I am satisfied that documents are legible, readable and true. That I shall not object to rejection of my candidature based on the sole reason of uploaded documents being non readable/ poor quality of scanning."
3. No further opportunity will be given to the candidate for submission of any document after the submission of online recruitment application. Online Recruitment Application once submitted shall not be allowed any change.
d) No representation / correspondence will be entertained against final rejection of candidature.
Closing Date for Application : 04/03/2021 11:59PM and Closing Date for Fee : 04/03/2021 11:59PM