KEA Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Recruitment 2026 — 572 Posts
Village Administrative Officers (Grama Adalitha Adhikari) are the Revenue Department's officers at village level. In 2026 KEA notified 505 posts in 21 districts of the residual parent cadre (RPC) and 67 in the Kalyana-Karnataka (KK) districts, with the written exam on 4 October 2026.
The 2026 notifications
KEA notification No. ED/KEA/26/Ne.V./2026 (RPC) of 10 July 2026 invites applications for 505 Group-C Village Administrative Officer posts in 21 districts of the residual parent cadre, for direct recruitment through a competitive exam. Candidates may apply for one district only. [1]
RPC posts by district (largest first) [1]
| District | Posts |
|---|---|
| Tumakuru, Mandya | 50 each |
| Belagavi | 48 |
| Mysuru | 45 |
| Hassan | 35 |
| Chamarajanagar | 31 |
| Bengaluru South | 30 |
| Bengaluru Rural | 29 |
| Kolar | 22 |
| Chikkaballapur | 21 |
| Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada | 20 each |
| Shivamogga | 18 |
| Bagalkote | 16 |
| Chitradurga, Haveri | 15 each |
| Gadag | 14 |
| Udupi, Chikkamagaluru | 10 each |
| Bidar | 4 |
| Raichur | 2 |
| Total | 505 |
A separate notification No. ED/KEA/27/Ne.V./2026 (KK) of the same date covers 67 posts in the Kalyana-Karnataka local cadre: Kalaburagi 40, Bidar 17 and Raichur 10. [2]
Applications ran from 11 July 2026; the closing date was extended to 20 August 2026 and fee payment to 26 August 2026 (4 pm). [3]
The written exam was held on 4 October 2026 and provisional keys were published on 6 October; objections were accepted online until 10.30 am on 8 October 2026 at ₹25 per objection. [4]
PUC and the age table
- Qualification: PUC (Class 12) or equivalent, held on the last date for applications. Equivalents: CBSE / ICSE Class 12, another state board's Class 12, NIOS senior secondary, a 2-year ITI with an NIOS or PU-board language + subject, the state's JOC vocational course, and a 3-year diploma of the Technical Education Department (Government orders of 2018 and 2021).
- Age: at least 18 on the last date.
- Citizenship: the candidate must be a citizen of India. [1]
Maximum age (includes the one-time 5-year relaxation of Government Order 29-01-2026) [1]
| Category | Maximum age |
|---|---|
| General merit | 40 |
| Category 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B | 43 |
| SC, ST, Category-1 | 45 |
- Persons with disabilities, widows, and freed bonded labourers: 10 years more.
- Ex-servicemen: service + 3 years.
- State / local-body employees: years of service or 10 years, whichever is less. [1]
Two OMR papers and the compulsory Kannada test
Competitive exam (offline OMR) [1]
| Paper | Subjects | Questions / Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | General knowledge: current events, everyday science, Indian Constitution, history and geography of India with focus on Karnataka, state administration, rural development and panchayat raj, Karnataka's economy and environment | 100 / 100 | 2 hours |
| Paper 2 | General Kannada, general English, computer knowledge | 100 / 100 | 2 hours |
- At least 35% is required in the competitive exam to be considered for selection.
- Negative marking: 0.25 mark for each wrong answer; leaving the 5th 'not attempted' circle unshaded also costs 0.25 per question.
- Selection is district-wise; KEA hands the merit list to the Deputy Commissioner of each district, who is the appointing authority. [1]
Compulsory Kannada test: anyone who has not passed Kannada as a first or second language in SSLC (or higher), or studied in Kannada medium, or cleared an earlier compulsory Kannada test, must pass this 150-mark objective test with at least 50 marks. Its marks do not count for merit. [1]
The 2026 compulsory Kannada test was held on 8 October 2026, 3 pm to 5 pm: 100 questions, 1.5 marks each, 150 marks. [5]
Forms D, E, F, rural and Kannada medium
Caste certificate formats [1]
| Category | Form |
|---|---|
| SC (A, B, C) and ST | Form D (enter the RD number for SC A / B / C) |
| Category-1 | Form E |
| Category 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B | Form F |
- Only caste and income certificates issued for employment are accepted — certificates taken for education are not.
- Married women of 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B need a caste and income certificate issued in the husband's name.
- Rural reservation: study from Class 1 to 10 in a rural area; general-merit applicants need Form-1 (Tahsildar) and Form-2 (head teacher, countersigned by the Block Education Officer); reserved categories need Form-2. Losing a caste claim also cancels the rural claim.
- Kannada medium: Class 1 to 10 in Kannada medium, certified by the head teacher.
- Ex-servicemen: 10% of direct-recruitment posts.
- Persons with disabilities: 5% horizontal reservation in Group-C posts (40% or more disability; blind and low-vision candidates are not eligible for this post).
- Transgender persons: 1% of posts in every category, with a District Magistrate certificate.
- Project-displaced families: certificate from the Tahsildar. [1]
What to keep ready
- Aadhaar card.
- Marks cards of the qualifying exam (all subjects / semesters) and the provisional degree or diploma certificate.
- Proof of date of birth: SSLC marks card, school transfer certificate or birth certificate.
- Caste and income certificate in the prescribed form, rural Form-1 / Form-2, Kannada-medium certificate, ex-servicemen, transgender or disability papers, if claimed.
- No-objection certificate from the employer, for candidates already in service.
- Photo (JPEG, 50–200 KB) and signature (JPEG, 50–70 KB). [1]
Pay scale
Pay scale: ₹34,100 – 800 – 35,700 – 900 – 39,300 – 1,000 – 43,300 – 1,125 – 47,800 – 1,250 – 52,800 – 1,375 – 58,300 – 1,500 – 64,300 – 1,650 – 67,600. Probation is two years, and the post is covered by the National Pension System. [1]
The first figure is the starting basic pay. In-hand salary adds dearness allowance, HRA and other allowances and subtracts deductions; the notification gives only the pay scale, so no in-hand figure is shown here.
A district-level post
The Village Administrative Officer post has district-level seniority. KEA sends the district-wise merit lists to the government, which passes them to each Deputy Commissioner; the Deputy Commissioner completes verification and appointment. [1]
Where these facts come from
Every fact on this page is taken from the official files below, read on 14 October 2026. Boards change rules, fees and dates every cycle — open the current notification before you apply.
- KEA — Detailed notification, Village Administrative Officer recruitment (RPC), No. ED/KEA/26/Ne.V./2026 (10 Jul 2026, Kannada) (opens in a new tab) district posts, qualification, age and relaxations, fee, pay scale, exam scheme, negative marking, compulsory Kannada test, reservation certificates, documents · Last checked 14 Oct 2026
- KEA — Detailed notification, Village Administrative Officer recruitment (KK), No. ED/KEA/27/Ne.V./2026 (10 Jul 2026, Kannada) (opens in a new tab) 67 Kalyana-Karnataka posts by district · Last checked 14 Oct 2026
- KEA — Notices extending the VAO (RPC) application and fee dates (6 Aug 2026 and 25 Aug 2026) (opens in a new tab) application until 20 Aug 2026; fee until 26 Aug 2026 · Last checked 14 Oct 2026
- KEA — Notice on provisional keys of the VAO (RPC) competitive exam (6 Oct 2026) (opens in a new tab) exam held 4 Oct 2026; objections till 8 Oct 2026, ₹25 each · Last checked 14 Oct 2026
- KEA — Compulsory Kannada language test 2026: date and bell timings (8 Oct 2026) (opens in a new tab) Kannada test on 8 Oct 2026, 100 questions, 150 marks · Last checked 14 Oct 2026
Spotted something out of date? Email margdarshan07support10@gmail.com with the official link and we will update it.