SSC JHT (CHTE) 2026: notification out + new 1-hour sectional timing in Paper 1

The Staff Selection Commission released the SSC Combined Hindi Translators Examination (CHTE) 2026 notification on 23 April 2026 on ssc.gov.in. This is the umbrella exam recruiting Junior Hindi Translators (JHT), Junior Translation Officers (JTO) and Senior Hindi Translators (SHT) across central government ministries, CSOLS, AFHQ and other Group B / Group C posts.

Vacancies for 2026 are notably tight — 84 posts compared with 320 in 2024 and 307 in 2023, so competition per seat has jumped roughly four-fold year on year. That makes accuracy, not just attempts, the deciding factor this cycle.

The biggest change for 2026 is sectional timing in Paper 1. The 200-question CBT was previously a single 120-minute composite timer where candidates could move freely between General Hindi (100 Qs) and General English (100 Qs). From 2026 onward, each part gets a separate 60-minute timer that auto-locks when its time expires — you cannot return to Part I after starting Part II, and you cannot push leftover Hindi time into English. Scribe-eligible candidates get 2 hours 40 minutes total per the official notification.

The rest of the pattern is unchanged. Marking is +1 per correct answer and −0.25 per wrong answer. Minimum qualifying marks are 30% for UR, 25% for OBC/EWS and 20% for SC/ST/PwBD/ESM. Paper 2 remains a descriptive pen-and-paper test with translation passages (Hindi↔English) and essays in both languages, and final merit combines Paper 1 and Paper 2 scores.

The notification PDF, application link, vacancy list and exam dates are all on ssc.gov.in — verify there, not on an aggregator. Practise the new sectional Paper 1 with a free SSC JHT mock test, and check the syllabus and salary structure for the translator cadre.