HPSC Food Safety Officer (FSO) Recruitment 2026

Candidates must carefully observe the official timeline prescribed in Part-A of the notification. The Commission enforces strict cut-off deadlines:

As per Page 2 & 3 (Point 1) of HPSC Advt. No. 25/2026, the category-wise break-up of the 45 posts of Food Safety Officer (Group-B) in Food & Drugs Administration Department, Haryana is as follows:

In addition to the vertical category distribution, the official notification specifies horizontal reservation for Ex-Servicemen and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwD):

In accordance with Haryana Government policy regarding sub-classification of Scheduled Castes, the SC quota is divided equally between Deprived Scheduled Castes (DSC) and Other Scheduled Castes (OSC):

The Food Safety Officer (FSO) is a prestigious Group-B Gazetted/Executive post in the Haryana State Government. The official salary structure is defined on Page 5 (Point 2) of the notification:

The Food & Drugs Administration Department (FDA), Haryana is the nodal state regulatory agency responsible for safeguarding public health through rigorous enforcement of food safety standards and drug regulations across the state.

As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Service Rules of the Department, a Food Safety Officer performs critical statutory functions:

• Inspection of Food Establishments: Inspecting all food business operators (FBOs), manufacturing units, packaging plants, godowns, cold storages, restaurants, and retail outlets within designated territorial jurisdiction.
• Sample Collection: Drawing official statutory samples of food articles for testing at State Food Laboratories or Referral Laboratories in accordance with prescribed sampling protocols.
• Seizure & Detainment: Seizing adulterated, unwholesome, misbranded, or unsafe food articles, as well as inspection records, ledgers, and prohibited additives.
• Prosecution & Enforcement: Filing complaints and initiating prosecution before Designated Officers and Adjudicating Officers / Special Courts against violators of food safety standards.
• Surveillance & Public Health: Investigating food poisoning outbreaks, consumer complaints, and ensuring hygienic food handling during fairs, festivals, and public gatherings.

As stipulated in Part-A, Section 2 (Page 4) of Advertisement No. 25/2026, the essential educational qualification requires candidates to possess either a Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, or Doctorate degree from a recognized university or institution in the prescribed disciplines.

As per Page 4, Section 2(1)(a) of the official notification, the following eleven specific disciplines are covered under "Food Technology":

As per Page 4 of Advt. No. 25/2026, candidates holding a Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctorate degree in disciplines deemed to be covered under "Agricultural Science" are eligible:

In addition to Food Technology and Agricultural Sciences, the notification explicitly lists several core scientific disciplines as eligible qualifications:

The notification explicitly recognizes graduation in medicine from a recognized University, including modern medicine as well as recognized Indian systems of medicine:

Clause 1(a) of Essential Qualifications (Page 4) includes an official equivalence clause:

"or any other equivalent recognized qualification notified by the Food Authority with the prior approval of the Central Government;"

There is often confusion regarding whether Food Authority training must be completed prior to applying. The official notification provides crystal-clear clarification on Page 4 & 5:

To avoid conflicts of interest and preserve the integrity of regulatory enforcement, the notification specifies an absolute statutory bar under the Food Safety & Standards Rules, 2011:

As per Essential Qualification Point 2 on Page 4 of Advt. No. 25/2026, the state language proficiency condition is strictly required:

Candidates who studied neither Hindi nor Sanskrit in Class 10th and did not study Hindi in higher education are not eligible to apply.

Point 3 (Closing Date) on Page 5 of the notification lays down binding legal principles governing eligibility determination:

• Crucial Determination Date: The eligibility of candidates with regard to age, educational qualifications, experience, etc. shall be determined on the Closing Date fixed for submission of online application forms: 19.10.2026 till 05:00 PM.
• No Post-Dated Documents: No certificate or document issued after the closing date (19.10.2026) will be accepted by the Commission at any stage of the selection process.
• Improvement of Marks Disallowed: Any improvement in marks done by a candidate after the closing date shall not be considered for any purpose in this recruitment.
• Possession of Documents: Candidates must possess all original certificates and marksheets in support of educational qualifications, age, experience, domicile, caste, and category on or before 19.10.2026.

As per Page 6 (Point 4) of HPSC Advt. No. 25/2026, the category-wise application fee payable through online mode up to 05:00 PM on 19.10.2026 is as follows:

The Commission provides secured electronic payment gateway facilities integrated into the online application portal:

Candidates must initiate fee payment well before 05:00 PM on 19.10.2026 to prevent bank gateway server timeouts or transaction drops.

As per Page 7, Section 6 (Age Limits) of Advt. No. 25/2026, the general age criteria are defined as follows:

Candidate should not be less than 18 years and not more than 42 years on or before the closing date of the advertisement, i.e., 19.10.2026.

In accordance with Haryana Government Instructions dated 25.03.2022 and subsequent amendments, relaxation in maximum age limit is admissible as under (Page 7 & 8):

As per Page 8, Clause (viii), Ex-servicemen including Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCO) and Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECO) are eligible for age relaxation under the following specific statutory rules:

Clause (ix) on Page 8 provides age relaxation for persons who have worked or are presently working in Haryana Government setups:

The notification lays down an overarching upper age ceiling on Page 8 (Note 2):

As per Page 8, Note 4 of Advt. No. 25/2026, the Commission accepts only one conclusive legal document for date of birth verification:

As specified in Page 8, Section 7 of the advertisement, a candidate must be either:

• A citizen of India; or
• A subject of Nepal; or
• A subject of Bhutan; or
• A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India; or
• A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

Point 8 (Reservation) on Page 8 to 11 of the notification outlines fundamental principles governing reservation benefits:

Following Haryana Government Notification No. 22/163/2024-5HR-II dated 13.11.2024, Scheduled Castes are sub-classified into DSC and OSC:

Old generic SC certificates that do not clearly specify sub-classification into DSC or OSC must be updated as per the latest government format prior to application submission.

Page 9, Section 8(b) of Advt. No. 25/2026 details strict non-creamy layer criteria under Haryana Government Notification No. 40/13/2024-1SW dated 16.07.2024:

Page 10, Section 8(c) prescribes conditions for the 05 posts reserved for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS):

• Government Instruction: Issued strictly as per Haryana Government Instruction No. 22/12/2019-1GS-III dated 25.02.2019.
• Financial Year of Validity: The EWS Income and Asset Certificate must be valid for the Year 2026-2027.
• Issue Date: The certificate must be issued on or after 01.04.2026 and on or before the closing date 19.10.2026.
• Family Income Baseline: Must reflect gross annual family income based on Financial Year 2025-2026.
• Non-Acceptance of Central Format: The certificate must be in the format prescribed by the State Government of Haryana for Haryana State Civil Posts/Services. Central Government EWS certificates are not accepted for state quota benefits.

As per Page 10, Section 8(d) and Haryana Government Notification No. 01/10/2021-2HR-III dated 25.05.2026, the ESM reservation operates on horizontal principles:

In accordance with Haryana Government Notification No. 22/49/2021-1GS-III dated 27.10.2021 and 26.04.2022 (Page 11, Section 8(e)):

Page 11, Section 8(f) and Pages 13–15 outline facilities for candidates with benchmark disabilities (minimum 40% permanent disability):

As per Page 12, Point 10 of Advt. No. 25/2026, rules for candidates serving in Government, Semi-Government, or PSU organizations are as follows:

Under HPSC recruitment regulations and Clause 15 of Advt. No. 25/2026, the selection methodology comprises up to three distinct assessment stages:

Page 12, Point 15 of Advt. No. 25/2026 reserves complete authority to the Commission regarding shortlisting modalities:

"Where the number of applications received in response to an advertisement is large and it will not be convenient or possible for the Commission to interview all candidates, the Commission may restrict the number of candidates for interview to a reasonable limit by adopting any of the shortlisting methods."

RajDailyTools does not invent unofficial syllabus or marking schemes. As soon as HPSC uploads the official exam pattern notification, this section will be updated with exact marks, question counts, duration, and topic weightages.

In the event of an OMR-based Screening Test, candidates must strictly observe the answering regulations outlined on Page 13:

• Darkening of Circles: Only Black / Blue Ball Point Pen must be used for darkening circles on the OMR Response Sheet.
• Roll Number & Question Booklet Series: Incorrect or incomplete darkening of Roll Number, Question Booklet Series, or Subject Code results in automatic evaluation failure, and the machine will reject the sheet. No manual correction is permitted.
• Fifth Option (Bubble 'E'): In recent HPSC examinations, if a question is not attempted, candidates are required to darken the 5th circle ('E') to indicate that they do not wish to attempt the question. Leaving all circles blank may attract negative marks as per Commission instructions.
• Prohibition on Re-evaluation: The Commission does not entertain any request for re-checking, re-totalling, or re-evaluation of OMR answer sheets or answer scripts under any circumstances.

Shortlisted candidates who qualify the written screening/knowledge test will be summoned for the Interview / Viva-Voce at the Commission's office in Panchkula:

The final merit list of selected candidates is formulated based strictly on merit in accordance with statutory recruitment rules:

• Consolidated Merit: Final merit is determined from scores obtained in the competitive stages (Subject Knowledge Test and Interview) as prescribed by the Commission.
• Reserved Candidates on General Standards: Candidates belonging to reserved categories (DSC, OSC, BC-A, BC-B, EWS) who qualify on their own merit without availing any age or fee concession shall be recommended against Unreserved vacancies.
• Tie-Breaking Norms: In case two or more candidates obtain identical aggregate marks, tie-breaking criteria (e.g., marks in Subject Knowledge Test, followed by age seniority, followed by qualifying degree percentage) are applied as per HPSC guidelines.

The Commission mandates an end-to-end 13-stage online application workflow on the official portal https://hpsc.gov.in:

Candidates must scan and keep the following documents ready for upload during online registration:

Page 17 & 18 (Clause 15) and Annexure-I of Advt. No. 25/2026 state rigorous compliance standards for experience claims:

• Prescribed Format Only: The experience certificate must be on the official format given in Annexure-I. Plain letterhead certificates without mandatory disclosures will be rejected.
• Mandatory Verification Documents: Candidates claiming experience from private or contractual bodies must attach supporting proof:
  • Bank statement showing regular salary credit through bank transfer.
  • Employee Provident Fund (EPF) statement with Universal Account Number (UAN) / EPF Member ID.
  • Employees' State Insurance (ESI) contribution history.
  • Income Tax Form 26AS / AIS indicating TDS deduction from the employer.
• Equivalent Post Requirement: For age relaxation under contractual provisions, experience must be on an equivalent post under Haryana Government.

The Commission will provide an online objection filing portal for a duration of 3 to 5 days after publishing the provisional key. Candidates can submit representations along with documentary proof from standard scientific textbooks and pay the prescribed fee per question. Expert committees will review all objections before releasing the final answer key.

Roll numbers of candidates shortlisted for document verification and interview will be displayed on the notice board and portal. The Commission recommends final candidates to the Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department, Haryana for appointment as Food Safety Officer.

In case of any guidance, information, or technical difficulty regarding online application, fee payment, or submission, candidates can contact the HPSC Facilitation Counter: