Union Cabinet approves setting up of National Recruitment Agency Common Eligibility Test

Union Cabinet approves National Recruitment Agency 

• Common Eligibility Test (CET) for govt jobs

• The National Recruitment Agency was first proposed by the government in the Union Budget 2020

• Union Cabinet approved setting up national recruitment agency that will conduct common eligibility test

The agency will be an “independent, professional, specialist organisation and will conduct an exam, which would be known as the Common Eligibility Test, for selection to government jobs

Union Cabinet on 19 Aug 2020 approved a proposal to set up National Recruitment Agency that will conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) for selection to non-gazetted posts in the central government and public sector banks. “The National Recruitment Agency will prove to be a boon for crores of youngsters,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet. “This decision will benefit job seeking youth of the country,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

There will be single entrance examination for all non-gazetted posts — Group B and C posts. Candidates who qualify this Common Entrance Test (CET) can apply to any recruitment agencies for higher level of examination. The score will be valid for 3 years during which candidate can apply for jobs in different sectors depending upon his/her aptitude and preferences.

Salient features.

• The Common Eligibility Test will be held twice a year.
• There will be different CETs for graduate level,  12^th Pass level and 10^th pass level to facilitate recruitment to vacancies at various levels.
• The CET will be conducted in 12 major Indian languages. This is a major change, as hitherto examinations for recruitment to Central Government jobs were held only in English and Hindi.
• To begin with CET will cover recruitments made by three agencies : viz. Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.  This will be expanded in a phased manner.
• CET will be held in 1,000 centres across India in a to bid remove the currently prevalent urban bias. There will be an examination centre in every district of the country.  There will be a special thrust on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 aspirational districts.
• CET will be a first level test to shortlist candidates and the score will be valid for three years.
• There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit. Age relaxation for SC/ST and OBC candidates as per existing rules will apply.

Advantages for students

• Removes the hassle of appearing in multiple examinations.
• Single examination fee would reduce financial burden that multiple exams imposed.
• Since exams will be held in every district, it would substantially save travel and lodging cost for the candidates. Examination in their own district would encourage more and more women candidates also to apply for government jobs.
• Applicants are required to register on a single Registration portal.
• No need to worry about clashing of examination dates.

Advantages for Institutions

• Removes the hassle of conducting preliminary / screening test of candidates.
• Drastically reduces the recruitment cycle.
• Brings standardization in examination pattern.
• Reduces costs for different recruiting agencies. Rs 600 crore savings expected.

The Government also plans to provide outreach and awareness facility to assist candidates in rural and far flung areas to familiarize them with the online examination system. 24×7 helpline will be set up for answering queries, complaints and queries.

National Recruitment Agency will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act. It will be headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India. It will have representatives of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS. The Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs. 1517.57 crore for the National Recruitment Agency (NRA). The expenditure will be undertaken over a period of three years. It is envisioned that the NRA would be a specialist body bringing the state-of-the-art technology and best practices to the field of Central Government recruitment.