01
At a glance
The facts most likely to change your decision.
- Vacancies
- 728 Van Rakshak posts, plus Kshetra Rakshak, Jail Prahari and Assistant Jail Superintendent posts in the same test The 728 Van Rakshak posts come from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests' letter प्रशा.II/क्षे.स्था.-2/व.र.भर्ती/2025/6706 dated 23 December 2025 and can move up or down with each district's roster. The rulebook's later chapters carry separate Kshetra Rakshak, Jail Prahari and Assistant Jail Superintendent tables, which are not summed here.
- Education
- 10th · 12th For Van Rakshak: Higher Secondary from the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education or a recognised institution under the old pattern, or a Class 10 (High School) pass under the 10+2 pattern (rulebook clause 1.3).
- Age
- For Van Rakshak: 18 to 33 years for open direct recruitment, and 18 to 38 years for women in the unreserved category and for SC, ST and OBC applicants, government servants, corporation, board and autonomous-body employees and nagar sainiks — computed as on 1 January 2026. Age relaxation is available only to Madhya Pradesh permanent residents (rulebook clause 1.5). Relaxations and cut-off dates are category-specific.
- Application fee
- ₹500 per question paper for unreserved candidates and ₹250 per question paper for Madhya Pradesh-domicile SC/ST/OBC/PwD candidates; no fee for direct-recruitment backlog posts; plus an MP Online portal fee of ₹60 through a kiosk or ₹20 otherwise, and ₹20 with a ₹40 portal charge for each application correction (rulebook clause 3.33). Use the official payment instructions only.
- Pay
- Van Rakshak pay scale ₹19,500–62,000 (rulebook clause 1.3). Gross and in-hand pay vary by posting and allowance.
- Recruitment cycle
- 2026 State · Madhya Pradesh
02
Vacancies & reservation
What is known, what overlaps and what remains unreported.
Current published count728 Van Rakshak posts, plus Kshetra Rakshak, Jail Prahari and Assistant Jail Superintendent posts in the same test
Check source ↗| Scope | UR | EWS | OBC | SC | ST | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Rakshak (Forest Guard) — chapter 1(अ) | 310 | 77 | 198 | 0 | 143 | 728 |
How to read reservation: UR, EWS, OBC, SC and ST are vertical categories. PwBD, women, ex-servicemen and similar horizontal reservations can overlap them and must not be added again to the total.
03
Complete timeline
One record from notification to final outcome.
- completed
Online application window
28 Feb – 14 Mar 2026, reopened to 30 Apr 2026
- completed
Correction window closed
30 Apr 2026
- completed
Exam-date change notice
20 May 2026
- completed
Admit cards hosted
27 May 2026
- completed
Recruitment test
4–19 Jun 2026
- current
Result
Not announced
No result was hosted on the board's dashboard as of early August 2026
04
Who can apply?
A readable first check—not a legal eligibility decision.
Basic eligibility paths
- A candidate must be an Indian citizen, or a Nepalese citizen holding the certificate required by the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services Recruitment Rules 1961 (rulebook clause 1.4).
- A domicile certificate issued at Tehsildar or Naib Tehsildar level or above is needed for reservation and age relaxation; candidates from outside Madhya Pradesh may apply only against unreserved/open posts and get neither reservation nor age relaxation (rulebook clause 1.4).
- Persons with disabilities are not eligible for the Van Rakshak post: the Social Justice Department's notification F-3-18-2019-26-1 dated 20 December 2019 exempts it as a field post (rulebook note 2).
- Horizontal reservation of 30 per cent for Home Guard volunteer nagar sainiks, 10 per cent for ex-servicemen and 1 per cent for national and international outstanding sportspersons applies under the Forest Department's notification F-03-47-2008/10-1 dated 12 November 2025, with 24 posts kept for serving contract employees.
- Live registration with a Madhya Pradesh employment exchange is compulsory on the application date (rulebook clause 1.5, note 1).
- Baiga, Sahariya/Saharia and Bhariya applicants from the listed districts who hold the minimum qualification may be appointed without going through the recruitment process, by applying in Format-2 to the district nodal forest officer (rulebook clause 1.3.2).
Relaxations & certificates
- SC/ST, OBC-NCL, PwBD and ex-servicemen relaxations follow the applicable notification.
- Always check the certificate format and cut-off date in the official notice.
If your degree title, age, domicile or category certificate is unusual, mark yourself “check required” and read the official wording.
05
Selection process & syllabus
Stage by stage, without mixing recruitment years.
Selection stages
- 1Computer-based objective test of 100 marks per shift, two hours a shift, with four options per question in Hindi and English (rulebook clause 3.32)
- 2Document verification and further departmental action by the Forest and Jail departments
- 3Appointment against the district roster
Syllabus snapshot
- Objective multiple-choice paper as prescribed in rulebook chapter 4(अ) on page 75.
06
Application document checklist
Prepare before the portal gets busy.
Recent passport-size photograph and scanned signature
Government photo ID with the same name used in the application
Education certificates and marksheets
Category, EWS, PwBD or ex-serviceman certificate, if claimed
Domicile or language proof where the notification requires it
07
Official links & source record
Go straight to the recruiting body.
noticeCombined recruitment rulebook (5 Mar 2026)noticeRulebook correction (16 Apr 2026)noticeExam-date change notice (20 May 2026)websiteMP ESB student dashboard
- Primary source
- MP ESB Van Rakshak, Kshetra Rakshak, Jail Prahari and Assistant Jail Superintendent 2026 rulebook and exam-date notice
- Published / changed
- Rulebook published 5 Mar 2026; exam date revised by notice dated 20 May 2026
- Last checked
- 4 Aug 2026, 19:25 IST
Official notices, corrigenda and recruiting-body pages have final authority. This page is a reading aid.