There is no written exam. There is no interview. For India Post's next round of Gramin Dak Sevak engagements, the only thing that decides whether you get the job is what you scored in Class 10 — aggregated by a computer to four decimal places.
The Department of Posts issued Notification No. 17-12/2026-GDS on 20 August 2026, opening the Schedule-II, July-2026 cycle of online engagement for Branch Postmaster (BPM), Assistant Branch Postmaster (ABPM) and Dak Sevak posts across the country's postal circles — the Jammu & Kashmir circle, which covers both J&K and Ladakh, included. Registration opens on 31 August. If you have passed Class 10 and you are between 18 and 40, you are already most of the way to eligible.
For a young person here weighing another year of coaching fees against a job, that combination — matric qualification, no exam, a fixed pay slab — is rare enough to be worth reading the notification properly. So here it is, in the order you will actually need it.
Three windows, and none of them forgive a late start
The schedule runs on three separate windows, and the first two neither open nor close together. Registration opens two days before applications do, and shuts two days before applications shut.
- One-time registration: 31.08.2026 to 19.09.2026, up to 1700 hrs
- Submission of the online application and fee payment: 02.09.2026 to 21.09.2026, up to 1700 hrs
- Corrections to the registration or application: 23.09.2026 to 24.09.2026, up to 1700 hrs
Everything happens at indiapost.gov.in/gdsonlineengagement. Applications sent by any other mode are not entertained. Only one registration is permitted per candidate, and the notification is blunt about it: duplicate or multiple registrations mean cancelled candidature, or action under the GDS (Conduct and Engagement) Rules, 2020, even after engagement.
That two-day correction window at the end is a real safety net, and it matters precisely because you cannot simply register again to fix a mistake. Note it now.
Who is eligible
Age: minimum 18, maximum 40, calculated as on the last date for submitting applications — not as on 1 January. Upper-age relaxation runs 5 years for SC/ST, 3 years for OBC, 10 years for persons with benchmark disabilities, 13 years for PwBD plus OBC and 15 years for PwBD plus SC/ST. EWS candidates get no age relaxation.
Education: a Secondary School Examination (Class 10) pass certificate with passing marks in both Mathematics and English, from a board recognised by the Government of India, a state government or a union territory. The notification specifically rules out candidates holding an equivalent qualification from any other board.
Language: you must have studied the local language up to at least Class 10. For the Jammu and Kashmir circle the prescribed local language is Urdu or Hindi — either one satisfies the requirement. Most people who did their matric here clear this without thinking about it, but check your marksheet before you assume.
Three further qualifications sit alongside those: knowledge of computers, knowledge of cycling, and adequate means of livelihood. You do not prove them when you apply; selected candidates submit undertakings on all three at the time of engagement.
The fee is ₹100, and a lot of applicants pay nothing
A fee of ₹100 applies for all the posts notified within your chosen Division. Payment is exempted entirely for all female applicants, SC and ST applicants, persons with benchmark disabilities, and transwomen applicants. Between them, that covers a large share of the people who will apply from here.
If you do owe the fee, it goes through credit or debit card, net banking or UPI, and must be completed by 1700 hrs on the closing date. It is not refunded, so confirm you are eligible for the Division you are applying to before you pay.
How the merit list is actually built
Shortlisting is done by a system-generated merit list based on marks obtained in the Class 10 examination, aggregated to a percentage accurate to four decimal places. No documents are uploaded with the application beyond your photograph and signature — the Department verifies Class 10 marksheets through DigiLocker via the API Setu portal, and you give consent for that as part of applying.
If your marksheet carries marks, enter marks. If it carries only grades, enter the grades — the system converts them itself using a multiplying factor of 9.5, and a CGPA is multiplied by 9.5 too. Do not convert them yourself. The notification warns that entering grades where your board printed marks makes the application liable for cancellation, and the same trap runs the other way on boards that print percentages.
Ties are broken first by date of birth, with the older candidate ranked higher, and then down a prescribed category and gender order.
Be clear-eyed about the job itself
This is the part most recruitment posts leave out, and the notification is unusually direct about it. Gramin Dak Sevaks are not regular employees of the Department or the Central Government, and their emoluments are not at par with Central Government staff. Their service conditions come from the GDS Rules, 2020, not from Article 309.
The work is four to five hours a day, mostly in rural areas, and no Sevak is retained beyond 65 years of age. The Department expects a GDS to have another source of income alongside the allowance. And a candidate selected as BPM has to arrange the accommodation for running the Branch Post Office at their own cost.
What you get in return is the Time Related Continuity Allowance, which carries a 3% annual increase: ₹12,000 to ₹29,380 for a BPM, and ₹10,000 to ₹24,470 for an ABPM or Dak Sevak.
Before 31 August
- Find your Class 10 marksheet and confirm you have passing marks in Mathematics and English.
- Check that Urdu or Hindi appears as a subject you studied up to Class 10.
- Get that marksheet onto DigiLocker if it is not there already.
- Keep a scanned photograph and signature ready — they are the only uploads.
- Open Annexure-I on the GDS portal for the circle- and division-wise vacancy position before you pick a Division. The tentative vacancies for each circle and division are published there, and the final division-wise position is notified separately on the portal.
- Note your registration number somewhere safe. You will need it to pay the fee.
Sources: GDS Online Engagement Notification, Schedule-II, July-2026 — Notification No. 17-12/2026-GDS dated 20 August 2026, Department of Posts, and the GDS Online Engagement portal.
