SSC CHSL salary

The SSC Combined Higher Secondary Level examination, or SSC CHSL, fills Class-12-level posts across the central government through the Staff Selection Commission . The posts run from Level 2 to Level 5 of the pay matrix: the Lower Division Clerk at Level 2, entry basic Rs. 19,900, the Postal Assistant and the Data Entry Operator at Level 4, Rs. 25,500, and the higher-grade Data Entry Operator at Level 5, Rs. 29,200. In an X-class city the in-hand runs from about Rs. 37,000 for a clerk to about Rs. 56,000 for the Level 5 operator.

This page sets out that pay: the posts and their in-hand, the Data Entry Operator level that is the most misreported figure, the two-tier examination and the typing test that sets CHSL apart from the graduate exam, and the eligibility. It is the 10+2 companion to the SSC CGL salary page, which covers the graduate posts. The take-home for a level is worked out by the salary by pay level calculator .

Posts and pay by level

CHSL is a single examination that leads to several posts, and the post decides the pay, the department, and the work. The posts are all Group C, and the level fixes the entry basic.

Each level in the table deep-links into the salary by pay level calculator , which recomputes the take-home from the live dearness allowance rate. The Postal Assistant, the Sorting Assistant, and the Court Clerk are not in every year’s notification, so the exact set of posts is fixed by the specific examination; the Lower Division Clerk and the Data Entry Operator are the constant core.

How the in-hand is built

The gross is the basic plus the standard allowances, and the in-hand is the gross less the pension contribution. Take the Postal Assistant at Level 4 as the worked example.

Income tax is nil at every CHSL level under either regime, because the income is well below the taxable threshold. One point of difference across the levels is the transport allowance: the Level 2 clerk draws the lower Rs. 1,350 slab, because Levels 1 and 2 get less transport allowance than Levels 3 and above, while the Level 4 and Level 5 posts draw the Rs. 3,600 slab. This is part of why the clerk’s in-hand is lower than the Postal Assistant’s beyond the difference in basic. The take-home salary article works through the same build-up.

The Data Entry Operator level

The Data Entry Operator is the CHSL post most often quoted at the wrong pay, so it is worth stating plainly. The confusion is over the level.

Most Data Entry Operator posts are at Level 4, entry basic Rs. 25,500, the same as a Postal Assistant. But in a few ministries, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Ministry of Culture, and the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Data Entry Operator is at Level 5, entry basic Rs. 29,200, the highest-paying CHSL post. The higher pay follows the department, not the label: the “Grade A” tag attached to some of these posts does not by itself fix the level. The Level 5 operator is also the one that carries the extra eligibility, a Class 12 in the science stream with mathematics, and the harder skill test. So a Data Entry Operator’s pay depends on which department the post is in.

The two-tier examination and the typing test

CHSL is a two-tier examination, both tiers computer-based, since the older three-tier format with a descriptive paper was dropped in the 2022 cycle. What sets it apart from the SSC CGL graduate examination is the skill test.

Tier I is the screening stage: an objective test of 100 questions for 200 marks in 60 minutes, across four sections, general intelligence and reasoning, general awareness, quantitative aptitude, and English, with a negative mark of 0.50 for a wrong answer. It is qualifying and does not count towards the final merit. Tier II is the merit stage, a longer computer-based test in sections covering mathematics and reasoning, English and general awareness, and a computer knowledge test, with a negative mark of one for a wrong answer in the scored parts.

The distinctive part is the skill test in Tier II, which the graduate examination does not have. For the clerical posts, the Lower Division Clerk and the Junior Secretariat Assistant, it is a typing test at 35 words a minute in English or 30 in Hindi. For the Data Entry Operator, it is a data entry speed test of 8,000 key depressions an hour, and 15,000 for the higher-grade operator in the ministries above. The skill test is qualifying, so it must be passed, but the marks do not count towards the rank.

Eligibility

The educational qualification is a pass in Class 12, the 10+2 stage, from a recognised board, which is what makes CHSL the school-leaver’s entry against the graduate SSC CGL . The one exception is the Level 5 Data Entry Operator in the specified ministries, which needs a Class 12 in the science stream with mathematics. The age band is 18 to 27 years, with the standard relaxations, five years for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and three for the Other Backward Classes.

The posts and their departments

The three core posts sit in different parts of the government. The Lower Division Clerk, also called the Junior Secretariat Assistant, is the clerical grade of the ministries and their offices, handling files and records. The Postal Assistant and the Sorting Assistant work in the Department of Posts , at the post offices and the sorting hubs. The Data Entry Operator does the data work of whichever department recruits the post. The work differs, but the pay is fixed by the level, so a Postal Assistant and a Level 4 Data Entry Operator draw the same.

Career progression

Each post has a promotion ladder within its department. A Lower Division Clerk rises to Upper Division Clerk at Level 4 and, in the secretariat, further into the assistant and section-officer grades. A Postal Assistant moves up the postal cadre through the Lower Selection Grade and the Higher Selection Grades to the postmaster ranks. A Data Entry Operator rises to the higher operator and supervisory grades. Where regular promotion is slow, the Modified Assured Career Progression scheme grants a financial upgradation after 10, 20, and 30 years of service, so a CHSL recruit moves up in pay even without a change of post. The salary by pay level chart shows the pay at each level up the ladder.

Pay, allowances, and pension

Every CHSL post is paid on the standard central-government pattern: the entry basic by level, then dearness allowance at 60 per cent, house rent allowance by city class, and transport allowance by level and city, less the deductions. Pension follows the post-2004 rule: a CHSL recruit is on the National Pension System , contributing 10 per cent of basic plus dearness allowance against the government’s 14 per cent, or the Unified Pension Scheme if opted from 1 April 2025; the Old Pension Scheme is closed to post-2004 entrants.

How CHSL compares with CGL

The two SSC examinations sit one above the other. CHSL is the 10+2 examination, filling Level 2 to Level 5 posts, while the SSC CGL is the graduate examination, filling Level 4 to Level 8. They overlap at Level 4, where a CHSL Postal Assistant and a CGL Tax Assistant draw the same Rs. 25,500, but the CGL reaches higher, to the Level 7 Income Tax Inspector and the Level 8 posts that CHSL does not. A candidate with a Class 12 pass sits CHSL; a graduate sits CGL for the higher posts. The central government jobs hub sets the two exams side by side.

See also

• SSC CGL salary
• SSC CGL
• Staff Selection Commission
• Department of Posts
• Income Tax Inspector salary
• Salary by pay level
• Salary by pay level calculator
• 7th CPC salary calculator
• Central government jobs
• Pay matrix
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• Take-home salary of central government employees
• Dearness allowance
• House rent allowance
• Transport allowance
• Annual increment
• Modified Assured Career Progression
• National Pension System
• Unified Pension Scheme
• Minimum pay
• Central government employees in India

External references

• Staff Selection Commission
• Department of Posts
• Comptroller and Auditor General of India
• Department of Personnel and Training
• Department of Expenditure