Stenographer salary

A stenographer in the central government is recruited in two grades: Grade D, a Group C post at Level 4 of the 7th Central Pay Commission pay matrix with an entry basic pay of Rs. 25,500, and Grade C, a Group B non-gazetted post at Level 6 (Rs. 35,400) or Level 7 (Rs. 44,900) depending on the cadre. At the dearness allowance of 60% in force from 1 January 2026, a Grade D stenographer in an X-class city takes home about Rs. 49,850 a month, and a Grade C stenographer about Rs. 66,850 at Level 6 or Rs. 83,200 at Level 7.

Both grades are filled through the Staff Selection Commission’s Stenographer Grade C and D Examination, for which the 2026 notice, F. No. E/13/2026-C-2, was published on 24 April 2026. The qualification is a Class 12 pass and a qualifying shorthand test at 80 words a minute for Grade D or 100 for Grade C. Pay is fixed by the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016, notified as G.S.R. 721(E) on 25 July 2016, and the largest single employer of Grade D stenographers, the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service, is governed by the CSSS Rules, 2010.

The work is dictation in shorthand, transcription on a computer, drafting and typing correspondence, and keeping an officer’s diary, appointments and files. A stenographer is attached to an officer rather than to a section, and the senior grades carry the titles Personal Assistant, Private Secretary and Principal Private Secretary. Railway stenographers are recruited separately by the Railway Recruitment Boards and are outside this article.

Pay level and basic pay

Stenographer Grade D is at Level 4 of the pay matrix, with an entry basic pay of Rs. 25,500 and 40 cells rising to Rs. 81,100. Level 4 is the pre-2016 grade pay of Rs. 2,400. The first cells run Rs. 25,500, Rs. 26,300, Rs. 27,100, Rs. 27,900, Rs. 28,700 and Rs. 29,600, each step being one annual increment of 3% under Rule 10 of the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016, on 1 January or 1 July.

Stenographer Grade C sits at one of two levels, and the SSC notice does not choose between them; the recruitment rules of the user department do.

Source: pay matrix, CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016; group from paragraph 1 of SSC notice F. No. E/13/2026-C-2; vacancies from the SSC tentative vacancy list for the Stenographer Grade C and D Examination 2026, as on 4 June 2026.

The 83 Level 7 vacancies in that list sit in five offices: the Intelligence Bureau (46), the Ministry of External Affairs (24), the National Human Rights Commission (7), the Central Vigilance Commission (4) and the Election Commission of India (2). In those cadres Grade C corresponds to the Personal Assistant grade, which carried the Rs. 4,600 grade pay before 2016; the Intelligence Bureau, for instance, designates its post Stenographer Grade II (Personal Assistant). The 66 Level 6 vacancies are in the Department of Revenue (39), the Ministry of Labour and Employment (13), the National Company Law Tribunal (5), the Bureau of Police Research and Development (4), the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (3) and the Department of Water Resources (2).

A candidate who qualifies for Grade C therefore draws Rs. 9,500 more basic pay at entry if allotted to a Level 7 cadre, a gap that dearness allowance and house rent allowance widen to about Rs. 16,300 a month in hand. Allotment follows merit and the preferences entered in the application, under the first round of tentative allocation explained in the SSC notices of 3 March 2026 and 8 April 2026.

Salary breakdown by city class

The gross for a stenographer at the entry cell in an X-class city is Rs. 54,210 a month at Grade D, Rs. 73,020 at Grade C Level 6 and Rs. 91,070 at Grade C Level 7, at the dearness allowance of 60% payable from 1 January 2026 under Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum F. No. 1/1(i)/2026-E.II(B) dated 22 April 2026.

The transport allowance is the same Rs. 3,600 plus dearness allowance in all three columns, because every stenographer grade falls in the Levels 3 to 8 band of Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017. The whole difference between a Grade D and a Grade C salary comes from basic pay and the two allowances that are percentages of it.

Outside the metros the house rent allowance falls to 20% in a Y-class city and 10% in a Z-class city, and the transport allowance to Rs. 1,800 plus dearness allowance (Rs. 2,880) outside the 19 places named in the annexure to the 2017 transport allowance order.

Rs. a month at the entry cell, dearness allowance 60% from 1 January 2026; Y and Z rows assume a place outside the transport allowance annexure. salary-calculator.in computation.

The annexure overlaps the Y class without matching it. A Grade D stenographer posted in a Y-class city that is in the annexure, such as Lucknow or Jaipur, draws Rs. 5,760 transport allowance, taking the in-hand to Rs. 47,300; the same posting lifts a Level 6 Grade C stenographer to Rs. 63,306. The city classification for HRA article lists which city falls in which class, and the 7th CPC salary calculator runs any level, cell and city.

The in-hand figure also leaves out the government’s own pension credit. Under the National Pension System the government adds 14% of basic pay plus dearness allowance to the employee’s account: Rs. 5,712 a month for a Grade D stenographer at entry and Rs. 7,930 for a Grade C stenographer at Level 6.

Allowances

Dearness allowance is the largest addition to a stenographer’s basic pay, at 60% from 1 January 2026: Rs. 15,300 a month at the Grade D entry cell and Rs. 21,240 at the Level 6 Grade C entry cell. The dearness allowance is revised every six months against the AICPI-IW index, so the gross moves twice a year without any change in the matrix.

House rent allowance is 30%, 20% or 10% of basic pay for an X, Y or Z class city. The rates rose to those figures on 1 January 2024, when dearness allowance crossed 50%, under the escalation written into Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum No. 2/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017. A stenographer living in government accommodation draws no house rent allowance and pays a licence fee instead.

Transport allowance for Levels 3 to 8 is Rs. 3,600 a month in the annexure cities and Rs. 1,800 elsewhere, with dearness allowance paid on top, so Rs. 5,760 or Rs. 2,880 at 60%. A stenographer with school-going children draws the children education allowance of Rs. 2,812.50 a month per child for up to two children, the rate in force since 1 January 2024.

The ad-hoc bonus is payable to both grades, because Grade D is Group C and Grade C is Group B non-gazetted. It is 30 days of emoluments on a ceiling of Rs. 7,000 a month, Rs. 6,908 for the accounting year 2024-25 under Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum F. No. 7/24/2007/E III (A) dated 29 September 2025. Leave Travel Concession, leave encashment and gratuity apply on the same terms as for any central government employee.

Deductions from the pay slip

Three deductions are fixed for a stenographer at the entry cell: Rs. 4,360 a month at Grade D, Rs. 6,174 at Grade C Level 6 and Rs. 7,894 at Grade C Level 7.

• Pension contribution. 10% of basic pay plus dearness allowance: Rs. 4,080, Rs. 5,664 and Rs. 7,184.
• Central Government Health Scheme. A level slab under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Office Memorandum No. S.11011/11/2016-CGHS(P)/EHS dated 9 January 2017: Rs. 250 for Levels 1 to 5, Rs. 450 for Level 6 and Rs. 650 for Levels 7 to 11.
• Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme. Rs. 30 a month for Group C, buying Rs. 30,000 of insurance cover, and Rs. 60 for Group B, buying Rs. 60,000, the rates paragraph 9.3.2 of the 7th Central Pay Commission report records under the 1980 scheme.

The insurance deduction doubles at Grade C because the classification changes from Group C to Group B, not because of the pay. The General Provident Fund is closed to a stenographer recruited after 1 January 2004, because it is confined to the Old Pension Scheme. Income tax is deducted at source under the TDS on salary provisions only once it becomes payable.

Income tax on the salary

A stenographer at the entry cell of any grade pays no income tax under the new regime. The annual gross in an X-class city at 60% dearness allowance is Rs. 6,50,520 for Grade D, Rs. 8,76,240 for Grade C at Level 6 and Rs. 10,92,840 for Grade C at Level 7. The standard deduction of Rs. 75,000 under Section 19(1), Table serial 2 of the Income-tax Act 2025, available where tax is computed under Section 202(1), leaves a total income below Rs. 12,00,000 in all three cases, and Section 156(2)(a) then allows a rebate of the whole tax up to Rs. 60,000. The tax before rebate is Rs. 8,776, Rs. 20,124 and Rs. 41,784.

The nil position ends once the annual gross crosses Rs. 12,75,000, apart from marginal relief just above it, which at 60% dearness allowance happens at a basic pay of about Rs. 52,900 in an X-class city. A Level 7 Grade C stenographer reaches it at the seventh cell, Rs. 53,600, after six increments. A Level 6 stenographer reaches it at the fifteenth cell, also Rs. 53,600, after 14 increments, and a Grade D stenographer at the 26th cell of Level 4, Rs. 53,500, after 25. Each dearness allowance revision and each promotion or Modified Assured Career Progression upgradation brings the date forward.

The old regime is a different answer. Its rebate stops at a total income of Rs. 5,00,000, so a Grade C stenographer at Level 6 with an annual gross of Rs. 8,76,240 pays tax under it unless deductions such as the house rent allowance exemption and Section 80C investments bring the income down that far. The new tax regime is the default, and the old versus new tax regime article sets out where the crossover falls. The government’s 14% pension credit is included in salary and then deducted, so it is tax-neutral in the year it is credited.

Pension entitlement

A stenographer recruited today is on the National Pension System by default, with the Unified Pension Scheme available as an option exercised in Form A-1 within 30 days of joining. The Old Pension Scheme is closed to anyone appointed on or after 1 January 2004.

The employee pays 10% of basic pay plus dearness allowance under both schemes, Rs. 4,080 a month at the Grade D entry cell, so the choice does not change the in-hand. The government credit differs. Under the National Pension System it is 14% of basic pay plus dearness allowance to the individual account. Under the Unified Pension Scheme, regulation 6(2) of the PFRDA (Operationalisation of Unified Pension Scheme under National Pension System) Regulations, 2025 of 19 March 2025 credits 10% to the individual corpus, and regulation 7(1)(i) adds an amount estimated at 8.5% to a pooled corpus, in exchange for an assured pension of 50% of the average basic pay of the last 12 months after 25 years of qualifying service.

For a stenographer the 25-year condition matters more than for most posts, because Grade D recruitment runs to age 27 and, with relaxation, to 30 for OBC candidates, 32 for SC and ST candidates and 37 for unreserved persons with benchmark disabilities. A Grade D stenographer who joins at 27 and retires at 60 has 33 years of service; one who joins at 37 under a PwBD relaxation has 23 and falls short of the full assured payout.

Grades of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service

The Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service has six grades under Rule 3 of the CSSS Rules, 2010, notified as G.S.R. 931(E) on 29 November 2010. Rule 17 states the pay in 6th Pay Commission grade pay; paragraph 5.27 of the DoPT Annual Report 2024-25 states the 7th Central Pay Commission levels and the sanctioned strength as on 31 March 2025.

Source: Rules 3, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 17, CSSS Rules, 2010; levels from paragraph 5.27, DoPT Annual Report 2024-25.

The service’s Grade C is the Personal Assistant grade, and Rule 11 fills it entirely from inside: 50% by promotion on seniority and 50% through a limited departmental competitive examination, with no direct recruitment. That is why the Department of Personnel and Training, the cadre controlling authority, is absent from the Grade C vacancy list for the 2026 examination and supplied 118 of the 1,021 Grade D vacancies. A candidate who wants a secretariat Personal Assistant post must enter at Grade D.

The sanctioned strength as on 31 March 2025 was 2,343 Grade D stenographers, 1,659 Personal Assistants, 1,547 Private Secretaries, 1,217 Principal Private Secretaries and 339 in the two top grades combined, under paragraph 5.27 of the DoPT Annual Report 2024-25. On the appointed day in 2010 the service had 1,932 Grade D and 2,924 Personal Assistant posts, so the entry grade has grown by 411 posts while the Personal Assistant grade has shrunk by 1,265.

Promotion and career progression

The first promotion for a Grade D stenographer in the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service is to Personal Assistant at Level 7, by one of two routes. The seniority quota requires not less than 10 years of approved service as Grade D under regulation 2 of G.S.R. 941(E) of 30 November 2010. The departmental examination, conducted by the SSC as the Grade C Stenographers Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, opens after six years under regulation 4 of G.S.R. 942(E).

The SSC runs that examination for seven stenographer services together. Its examination for 2023 and 2024, held on 9 May 2024, covered the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service, the Election Commission of India, the Railway Board Secretariat Stenographers’ Service, the Armed Forces Headquarters Stenographers’ Service, the Indian Foreign Service Branch B, the Central Vigilance Commission and the National Technical Research Organisation. The cut-off was 30% for unreserved candidates and 20% for SC, ST and PwBD candidates, and 441 candidates qualified for the skill test against the 2023 list.

Before either route opens, a Grade D stenographer of the service can reach Level 6 without a promotion. The non-functional selection grade at Level 6, the former Rs. 4,200 grade pay, is granted after five years of approved service, to a maximum of 30% of the sanctioned strength of Grade D, on an internal committee’s assessment, under DoPT Office Memorandum No. 20/49/2009-CS.II(B) dated 22 June 2011. DoPT Office Memorandum No. 6/8/2018-CS.II(C) dated 24 November 2022 placed 477 of a zone of 487 Grade D stenographers in it from 1 July 2022.

Above Personal Assistant, the Private Secretary grade at Level 8 is filled 66.67% by seniority and 33.33% through a departmental examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, open to a graduate Personal Assistant with three years of approved service. A Private Secretary moves to the non-functional Rs. 5,400 grade pay in Pay Band 3, Level 10, after four years under Rule 17, and to Principal Private Secretary at Level 11 after six. A Personal Assistant with a bachelor’s degree, five years of approved service and four appraisal reports may instead sit the Combined Section Officers’ Limited Departmental Competitive Examination under Category I of G.S.R. 819(E) dated 16 September 2026, and enter the Section Officer grade of the Central Secretariat Service.

Outside the secretariat, each department’s recruitment rules set the ladder, and most run only two grades. The draft recruitment rules of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration of 22 May 2023, for example, fill Stenographer Grade I at Level 6 by promotion from Grade II at Level 4 after 10 years. Where promotion does not come, the Modified Assured Career Progression scheme grants three financial upgradations to the immediate next level on completion of 10, 20 and 30 years of regular service, or 10 years in one level, under DoPT Office Memorandum No. 35034/3/2015-Estt.(D) dated 22 October 2019. In a cadre with no non-functional grade, a Grade D stenographer never promoted therefore moves from Level 4 to Level 5, 6 and 7. The benchmark is Very Good in the APAR for every upgradation due on or after 25 July 2016, as the MACP benchmark article sets out.

Recruitment through the SSC examination

The Staff Selection Commission fills both grades through one open examination, the Stenographer Grade C and D Examination, which DoPT’s Annual Report 2024-25 lists among the Commission’s seven mandated examinations. The 2026 notice, F. No. E/13/2026-C-2, opened applications on 24 April 2026 and closed them on 15 May 2026, with about 731 vacancies at notification. The tentative vacancy list of 4 June 2026 raised that to 1,170: 1,021 for Grade D and 149 for Grade C. The Central Board of Direct Taxes was the largest single indenting office, with 249 Grade D vacancies. The 2025 examination, by comparison, closed with 1,715 final vacancies (1,483 Grade D and 232 Grade C) in the list dated 21 April 2026.

The upper age limit is relaxed by 5 years for SC and ST candidates, 3 years for OBC, 10 years for unreserved and EWS persons with benchmark disabilities (13 for OBC and 15 for SC and ST), and 3 years for ex-servicemen after deducting military service, under paragraph 5.2. The fee is Rs. 100, waived for women, SC, ST, PwBD and eligible ex-servicemen candidates. Reservation follows the general rules in reservation in central government jobs.

The computer-based test is 200 objective questions for 200 marks in two hours: General Intelligence and Reasoning (50), General Awareness (50) and English Language and Comprehension (100), with a sectional timer and 0.25 marks deducted for a wrong answer. The questions are set in English and Hindi, but the third part tests English only. Paragraph 19.1 sets the minimum qualifying marks at 30% for unreserved, 25% for OBC and EWS and 20% for other categories, and scores from multiple shifts are normalised under the Commission’s notice of 2 June 2025.

The skill test is one 10-minute dictation, transcribed on a computer, and it is qualifying only. Final merit is the computer-based test score. A candidate who takes the skill test in Hindi must learn English stenography after appointment, or the reverse, failing which the appointing office may not clear probation, under paragraph 15.2.

Probation and confirmation

Every stenographer appointed through the SSC examination, at Grade C or Grade D and in any user office, serves two years on probation under paragraph 19.12 of the 2026 notice, and must undergo the training or pass the tests the controlling authority prescribes during it. For the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service, Rule 13(1) of the CSSS Rules, 2010 sets the same two years for a directly recruited Grade D stenographer, and Rule 13(2) sets a probation of one year on appointment as Personal Assistant or Principal Private Secretary. Extensions may not exceed one year in total, except where departmental or legal proceedings are pending against the officer.

Rule 14 confirms a Grade D stenographer once the prescribed tests and training are passed and probation is completed satisfactorily, and confirmation in the service happens only once, at the entry grade. A Grade D stenographer found unsuitable during or at the end of probation is discharged or reverted under Rule 16. The general principles are in the probation and confirmation articles.

Bearing on the 8th Central Pay Commission

No 8th Central Pay Commission figure exists for any stenographer grade, and a salary quoted under that heading is a projection, not a rate. The 8th Central Pay Commission was constituted by Department of Expenditure Resolution F. No. 01-01/2025-E.III(A) dated 3 November 2025, and paragraph 5 of that Resolution gives it 18 months, a window expiring on 3 May 2027.

The Commission will decide the fitment factor and the shape of the matrix that replaces Levels 4, 6 and 7. The 7th Central Pay Commission applied 2.57 to pre-revised pay, and the Rs. 25,500 entry cell of Level 4 is that exercise’s output for the old Rs. 2,400 grade pay. Until revised rules are notified, the present matrix governs, and the 8th Pay Commission tracker records each development. Dearness allowance keeps moving in the meantime: at 60% from 1 January 2026, it already adds Rs. 15,300 a month to a Grade D stenographer’s entry basic.

Related Articles

• Pay matrix
• CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016
• Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service
• Central Secretariat Service
• Staff Selection Commission
• Assistant Section Officer (ASO) salary
• Section Officer salary
• Tax Assistant salary
• SSC CHSL salary
• SSC CGL salary
• MTS salary
• Junior Engineer salary
• Dearness allowance
• AICPI-IW
• House-rent allowance
• City classification for HRA
• Transport allowance
• Children education allowance
• Ad-hoc bonus
• Annual increment
• Take-home salary for central government employees
• Central Government Health Scheme
• Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme
• General Provident Fund
• TDS on salary
• Income-tax Act 2025
• New tax regime
• Old vs new tax regime
• Section 80C
• National Pension System
• Unified Pension Scheme
• Old Pension Scheme
• Gratuity for central government employees
• Leave encashment
• Leave Travel Concession
• Modified Assured Career Progression
• MACP benchmark
• APAR
• Limited departmental competitive examination
• Union Public Service Commission
• Department of Personnel and Training
• Reservation in central government jobs
• Probation in central government
• Confirmation in service
• Minimum pay
• Fitment factor
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• 8th Central Pay Commission
• 8th Pay Commission tracker
• Central government jobs
• Central government employees in India
• 7th CPC salary calculator
• Salary by pay level

External references

• Staff Selection Commission
• Department of Personnel and Training
• Department of Expenditure
• Central Government Health Scheme
• Union Public Service Commission
• e-Gazette of India

References

1. Staff Selection Commission, notice of the Stenographer Grade C and D Examination, 2026, F. No. E/13/2026-C-2, published 24 April 2026, paragraphs 1, 3.2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 19 and 19.12; tentative vacancies as on 4 June 2026; final vacancies for the 2025 examination as on 21 April 2026.
2. Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016, G.S.R. 721(E) dated 25 July 2016: pay matrix Levels 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13, and Rule 10 (annual increment).
3. Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service Rules, 2010, G.S.R. 931(E) dated 29 November 2010, Rules 3, 9 to 14, 16 and 17; regulations G.S.R. 941(E) and 942(E) dated 30 November 2010.
4. Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No. 6/8/2018-CS.II(C) dated 24 November 2022 (non-functional selection grade at Level 6 for Stenographers Grade D), applying Office Memorandum No. 20/49/2009-CS.II(B) dated 22 June 2011.
5. Department of Personnel and Training, Combined Section Officers’ (Grade B) Limited Departmental Competitive Examination Rules for 2026, G.S.R. 819(E) dated 16 September 2026.
6. Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No. 35034/3/2015-Estt.(D) dated 22 October 2019 (Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme, consolidated).
7. Department of Expenditure Office Memoranda F. No. 1/1(i)/2026-E.II(B) dated 22 April 2026 (dearness allowance 60% from 1 January 2026), No. 2/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017 (house rent allowance) and No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017 (transport allowance).
8. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Office Memorandum No. S.11011/11/2016-CGHS(P)/EHS dated 9 January 2017 (CGHS contribution slabs).
9. Income-tax Act 2025, Section 19(1), Table serial 2 (standard deduction) and Section 156(2)(a) (rebate).
10. Department of Personnel and Training, Annual Report 2024-25, paragraph 5.27 (CSSS grades, pay levels, sanctioned strength as on 31 March 2025 and the Level 6 non-functional selection grade).
11. Staff Selection Commission, Grade C Stenographers Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, 2023 and 2024, result of the computer-based examination held on 9 May 2024, File No. HQ-EDP04/7/2024-EDP.