JKSSB Veterinary Pharmacist — Official Syllabus & Exam Pattern 2025

Quick facts

• Vacancies: 194 posts
• Total Marks: 120
• Duration: 2 Hours
• Negative Marking: −0.25 per wrong answer
• English: ~15 marks
• General Knowledge & J&K: ~20 marks
• Reasoning: ~15 marks
• Computer Knowledge: ~10 marks
• Zoology / Biology (subject-specific): ~60 marks
• Qualification: B.Sc with Zoology
• Pay Level: Level 4 — ₹25,500 to ₹81,100
• Interview: None — merit-based written exam only

About JKSSB Veterinary Pharmacist

The JKSSB Veterinary Pharmacist is a Group C post under the Animal Husbandry Department of J&K UT. Veterinary Pharmacists are responsible for dispensing medicines, maintaining drug inventories, assisting veterinary officers in treatment of livestock and animals, and managing pharmaceutical records at veterinary hospitals and dispensaries across Jammu and Kashmir.

The written examination consists of 120 objective-type MCQ questions carrying 1 mark each, with a duration of 2 hours. Negative marking of −0.25 marks applies per wrong answer. The paper has a strong subject-specific component — approximately 60 out of 120 marks are from Zoology, Animal Physiology, Evolution, and Immunology, making it one of the most science-heavy JKSSB exams. The remaining 60 marks cover English, General Knowledge & Current Affairs (including J&K-specific topics), Reasoning & Mental Ability, and Computer Knowledge.

JKSSB Advertisement Notification 03 of 2026 announced 194 vacancies for Veterinary Pharmacist. The exam held on 2 March 2025 (Set A) is fully solved and available on Ministry of Papers. Selection is made purely on written exam merit — there is no interview stage. Document verification follows shortlisting.

Previous year papers

• Fully Solved JKSSB Veterinary Pharmacist Question Paper 2025 - Answer Key 2025 - 120 questions

Section 1 — English Language (~15 marks)

• Synonyms and Antonyms — vocabulary-based word meaning questions
• Idioms and Phrases — meaning of common English idioms (skeleton in the cupboard, kick the bucket)
• One Word Substitution — single word for a definition
• Analogies — word pairs with same relationship (DIVA : OPERA)
• Articles — correct use of A, An, The with proper nouns and specific objects
• Prepositions — correct preposition after adjectives and verbs
• Grammar — tenses, subject-verb agreement, active/passive voice
• Clauses — identify noun clause, adjective clause, adverbial clause, relative clause
• Narration — direct to indirect speech and vice versa
• Error Spotting — identify grammatical error in a sentence segment
• Sentence Improvement — select correct alternative for underlined part
• Fill in the Blanks — vocabulary and grammar based

Section 2 — General Knowledge & Current Affairs (~20 marks)

• Indian History — Civil Disobedience Movement (1930), Quit India (1942), Jallianwala Bagh (1919), Indus Valley Civilisation
• Indian Polity — Fundamental Duties (Article 51A), Preamble amendments, Attorney General, Preamble features
• Indian Geography — Dakshin Ganga (Godavari), shifting cultivation (Jhum), climate
• International Affairs — SAARC founding members, UNSC composition (Article 23), military exercises (Yudh Abhyaas, Zapad, Mitra-Shakti)
• Science & Technology — ITER nuclear fusion, SPaDeX mission, India's three-stage nuclear programme, Chang'e-6 lunar mission
• Awards & Honours — Nobel Prize 2025, Kalinga Award (popularisation of science)
• Economy — Economic Survey 2025–26, Mission Atmanirbharta in Pulses, major ports (Kamarajar, Vizhinjam)
• Government Schemes — MNREGA, Mid-Day Meals, National Old Age Pension, Indira Awas Yojana
• J&K — RTI Act applicability (2019), Article 370, Dogri script, climate of Jammu, first legislature of J&K
• J&K Wetlands & Geography — Hokersar (Srinagar), Mansar (Samba), Wular (Bandipora), Hygam (Baramulla)
• J&K Schemes — MUMKIN Livelihood Generation Scheme (18–35 years, ₹80,000 subsidy)
• J&K ODOP — One District One Product matches (Baramulla-Apples, Udhampur-Pickles, Samba-Mushroom, Ramban-Honey)

Section 3 — Reasoning & Mental Ability (~15 marks)

• Number Series — arithmetic progressions, difference patterns (22, 33, 46, 61, 78, ?)
• Letter Series — position-based shifts, alternating pattern series (Z,X,U,Q,L,? ; AZ,BY,CX,DW,?)
• Coding-Decoding — letter shift codes (+2, +3 Caesar cipher type)
• Blood Relations — multi-step family tree problems
• Direction Sense — net displacement after multiple turns
• Analogies — letter pair relationships (AST:BRU :: NQV:?)
• Assertion & Reason — logical sufficiency of reasons
• Percentage — price increase/decrease to maintain same expenditure
• Trains — time to cross driver of opposing train
• Statement & Assumptions — what is implicit in a statement
• Figure Counting — counting triangles in a figure (medians of triangle = 18)
• Pattern Completion — visual figure sequence completion

Section 4 — Computer Knowledge (~10 marks)

• Basics — HTML (web pages), ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
• Operating Systems — types (Batch, Time-Sharing, Distributed, Network), Windows as multitasking OS
• Internet — search engines (Bing = Microsoft), email protocols (SMTP for sending), DNS + HTTP/HTTPS
• Hardware — input devices (Trackball, Graphics tablet, Joystick), output devices (Printer), device drivers
• Memory — Cache vs RAM speed, SSDs faster than HDDs, virtual memory, DRAM is volatile
• Software — ICT vs IT distinction, software license vs copyright, BIOS function during boot
• MS Office — Slide Master (PowerPoint), section breaks for different page numbering (Word), Excel IF formula syntax, Database management
• Networking — LAN vs Internet, Gmail needs internet access, cloud storage integration for large email attachments
• File Systems — OS role in mapping file names to physical storage locations
• Cybersecurity — Linux preferred OS for network testing and pentesting

Section 5 — Zoology & Animal Kingdom (~30 marks)

• Five Kingdom Classification — Whittaker's classification; Monera vs Protista similarities
• Porifera — Classes (Calcarea, Hexactinellida, Demospongiae, Sclerospongiae) and their features; intracellular digestion; water flow (ostia → osculum)
• Cnidaria — Gastrovascular cavity (digestive + circulatory); no separate circulatory system; diffusion-based transport
• Platyhelminthes — Acoelomate; triploblastic; bilaterally symmetrical; flame cells for excretion; Taenia solium (humans = definitive host, pig = intermediate)
• Nematoda — Renette cells for excretion in Ascaris (NOT flame cells)
• Arthropoda — Complete metamorphosis (Mosquito = holometabolous); Johnston's organ in mosquito antennae; pleuron connects tergum and sternum; cockroach head
• Mollusca — Classes (Gastropoda-snail, Bivalvia-oyster, Cephalopoda-octopus, Polyplacophora-chiton); torsion in gastropods (defence mechanism); enzymes in Pila (Protease in resorptive cells)
• Echinodermata — Tube feet (locomotion + feeding), Madreporite (water entry), Pedicellariae (defence + cleaning), Radial canal (water distribution); 5 eye spots in sea star
• Protozoa — Kinetodesmata (coordinate cilia); Groups: Amoeboid (Amoeba proteus), Ciliates (Paramecium), Flagellates (Euglena), Sporozoans (Plasmodium), Dinoflagellates (Gonyaulax), Slime moulds (Physarum)
• Chordata — Cephalochordates (notochord retained throughout life; Amphioxus); Urochordates (endostyle = filter feeding, mucus trapping, homologous to thyroid gland)
• Pisces — Chondrichthyes (Scoliodon), Cypriniformes (Labeo-Rohu), Siluriformes (Clarias)
• Amphibia — Indian Bull Frog = Rana tigrina; parental care: males guard eggs, Darwin's frog = vocal sac for tadpoles

Section 6 — Human Physiology (~10 marks)

• Digestion — Gastrin stimulates HCl secretion from parietal cells; Cholecystokinin (CCK) stimulates trypsin and lipase (NOT pepsin)
• Respiration — Partial pressure of O₂ in alveolar air ≈ 104 mm Hg; Respiratory Quotient (high RQ = aerobic carbohydrate respiration)
• Excretion — Loop of Henle: concentration gradient; without loop → dilute urine; Marine teleosts excrete ammonia; hyposmotic to seawater (drink seawater)
• Nervous System — Nerve impulse sequence: depolarisation → action potential → repolarisation → Na+/K+ pump; Resting membrane potential −70 mV; more permeable to K+ at rest
• Brain — Cerebrum (memory/thinking), Cerebellum (voluntary movement coordination), Medulla oblongata (heartbeat/breathing), Hypothalamus (temperature/hunger)
• Eye — Rods (dim light/B&W), Cones (bright light/colour), Fovea (highest cone density, sharp vision), Optic nerve (transmits signals to brain)
• Osmoregulation — Marine fish: hypoosmotic; drink seawater; excrete salt via gill chloride cells; Freshwater fish: hyperosmotic; produce dilute urine

Section 7 — Evolution (~10 marks)

• Theories — Lamarck: inheritance of acquired characters; Darwin: natural selection; Ernst Mayr: Biological Species Concept; Dobzhansky: Modern Synthetic Theory (Neo-Darwinism)
• Natural Selection Types — Stabilizing selection: favours INTERMEDIATE phenotypes, reduces diversity (NOT extreme); Industrial melanism: Peppered moth (Biston betularia)
• Horse Evolution — Eohippus (dawn horse, 4 toes) → Mesohippus (3 toes, forest) → Merychippus (grazing, plains) → Equus (modern, 1 toe)
• Palaeontology — Java Man: Eugène Dubois, 1891, banks of Solo River, Eastern Java
• Speciation — Allopatric speciation sequence: Geographical isolation → Ecological isolation → Pre-mating reproductive isolation → Selection completed
• Sibling Species — morphologically similar, sympatric, reproductively isolated, NOT genetically identical
• Origin of Life — Stromatolites formed by photosynthetic prokaryotes (cyanobacteria)
• Population genetics — Unit of evolution = POPULATION (not individual)
• Genetic Variation — Arises from both sexual reproduction AND mutations (not sexual reproduction alone)

Section 8 — Immunology (~10 marks)

• Innate Immunity — Toll-like receptors (TLRs); scavenger receptors; pattern recognition receptors (PAMPs); MHC is NOT part of innate immunity
• MHC / HLA — MHC Class I: recognised by CD8+ cytotoxic T cells; MHC Class II: recognised by CD4+ helper T cells; In humans MHC = HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigens)
• Antigen Processing — Endogenous pathway: proteasome → peptides transported to ER (TAP) → bind MHC Class I → surface presentation
• T Cells — Regulatory T cells (Tregs): suppress immune responses, prevent autoimmunity
• B Cells — Undergo mitosis (clonal expansion) and transcription (antibody production); do NOT phagocytose bacteria
• Antibodies — IgA (mucosal secretions: saliva, tears, breast milk); IgG (blood and extracellular fluid); IgD (surface of naive B cells); IgE (basophils and mast cells). Structure = H₂L₂ (2 heavy + 2 light chains)
• Cytokines — IL-1 (inflammation, fever, T-cell activation); IL-2 (T-cell growth, adaptive immunity); IFN-γ (macrophage activation); TNF-α (inflammation, apoptosis)
• Complement System — C5a: strongly chemotactic for neutrophils; C3b: opsonin; C5b: initiates membrane attack complex (MAC)