The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) issued the notification for the 72nd Combined Preliminary Competitive Examination (CCE) 2026, inviting applications for recruitment to 1,186 posts across various state government departments.
The notification, released on May 5, confirmed that the online application process would commence from May 7 and continue till May 31, 2026 through the official BPSC portal. The recruitment drive is aimed at filling vacancies in administrative, revenue, welfare, taxation, labour and development services under the Bihar government.
The Commission has revised the total number of vacancies from the earlier announced 1,230 to 1,186 after withdrawing 44 posts of Sugarcane Officer. According to the corrigendum issued by BPSC, these posts were removed as they are now governed under separate recruitment rules.
Among the major vacancies notified are 365 posts for Revenue Officer (RO), 130 for Cooperative Extension Officer, 101 posts reserved for Sub-Divisional Welfare Officer (Women), and 100 posts for Sub-Divisional Magistrate/Sub-Divisional Officer (SDM/SDO). Other key posts include 76 vacancies for State Tax Assistant Commissioner, 70 for Block Panchayat Raj Officer and 65 for Rural Development Officer.
The notification stated that candidates must possess a bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification from a recognised university. Certain posts such as Financial Administrative Officer require academic backgrounds in commerce, mathematics, statistics or economics.
As per the eligibility conditions, the upper age limit has been fixed at 37 years for general category male candidates, 40 years for women and backward class applicants, and 42 years for SC/ST candidates as on August 1, 2026.
The application fee has been fixed at Rs. 100 for all categories. However, candidates who do not possess Aadhaar will have to pay an additional biometric charge of Rs. 200.
Candidates shortlisted in the preliminary examination — approximately ten times the number of vacancies — will be eligible to appear for the mains examination. The mains stage will include a qualifying General Hindi paper, two General Studies papers, an essay paper and an optional subject paper in MCQ format.
BPSC clarified that marks obtained in the optional subject paper will not be considered while preparing the final merit list.
The recruitment examination is regarded as one of Bihar’s largest state-level competitive recruitment drives and is expected to attract lakhs of applicants from across the country.