On Wednesday, Union Cabinet has given the nod to the set up of National Recruitment Agency and a Common Eligibility Test (CET) for all non-gazetted officers in central government and public centre banks. The proposal was mentioned in the budget introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February 2020.
“Union Cabinet approves setting up of National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct Common Eligibility Test. This decision will benefit job seeking youth of the country,” said Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar.
Now there will be a common entrance test for non-gazetted posts including Group B and Group C posts. It was also stated that the candidates who qualify this Common Entrance Test (CET) can apply to any recruitment agencies for a higher level of examination. The score will be valid for three years during which candidates can apply for jobs in different sectors depending upon his/her aptitude and preferences.
A candidate will be having two additional chances improve the score. Among which best of the two scores will be considered for recruitment.
Currently, exams are conducted by three agencies – Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and the Institute of Banking Service Personnel (IBPS). The current approval has unified all three of them.
“There are almost more than 20 recruitment agencies in central govt. Although we are making exams of only three agencies common as of now, in course of time we will be able to have Common Eligibility Test for all recruitment agencies,” stated government secretary C Chandramouli.
As per FM Nirmala Sitharaman NRA is an independent, professional, specialist organization and will conduct an exam, which would be known as the Common Eligibility Test, for selection to government jobs.
“It will provide level playing field, a great boon particularly for economically deprived who cannot afford travelling to multiple centres, youth in far flung areas with difficulty to reach different centres and women candidates who are unable to travel to different cities because of constraints of travel and stay,” added Union Minister Jitendra Singh.
