NRA Common Eligibility Test (CET) Approved - All You Need to Know!!

Dear Candidates,

In the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an announcement has been made on behalf of Union Minister Prakash Javadekar in which the government approved a new body in the form of National Recruitment Agency (NRA).

The NRA will reduce the multiple recruitment exams held by SSC, IBPS, and Railways and will streamline the recruitment process by conducting a single Common Eligibility Test (CET). The verdict has been stamped.

At present, there are 20 such agencies in the country, that recruit candidates on various government jobs. However, from now on, after formation of the new agency NRA, candidates will have to pass only the Common Eligibility Test for selection in the main examinations of Group B and C in Banking, Railways, and SSC.

Check out the further details here -

What is NRA?

The NRA (National Recruitment Agency) is an independent single-body agency that will soon be set up by the Indian Government. It will be the recruiting board behind the conduction of CET.

The National Recruitment Agency will be established on the lines of the NTA (National Testing Agency). It will play an important role in arranging the recruitment process.

Our respected prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi said in a tweet that -

“The National Recruitment Agency will prove to be a boon for crores of youngsters. Through the Common Eligibility Test, it will eliminate multiple tests and save precious time as well as resources. This will also be a big boost to transparency.”

• The NRA Committee will also have separate representatives of SSC, IBPS, and Railways. 
• The government also plans to set up certain fixed exam centers in every district throughout the country. 
• This move will prove to be a boon for poor candidates who have to travel all the way to major cities on their own expenses, multiple times in a year for different exams. 

Also Check: New Education Policy 2020 Highlights

What is the Common Eligibility Test (CET)?

Earlier, candidates seeking government jobs in SSC, Railways, and IBPS had to appear for each of the exams, having similar syllabus and eligibility criteria, separately and needed to go to multiple exam centers at various cities on their own, to attend the exam.

But from now on, thanks to Union Cabinet, candidates will have to appear in only one common exam, i.e. Common Eligibility Test (CET). It will shortlist candidates for Group B and C (Non-technical) posts under Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), and Railways. More departments might be added to it later. 

• The Common Eligibility Test will be held at the tenth, twelfth, and graduate levels after formation of NRA, twice a year.
• Based on the marks of this examination, candidates will be able to fill the forms for the IBPS, SSC, or Railway exams. 

It will also lead to faster recruitment. While every organization takes 5 to 6 months to complete the first phase of recruitment, from releasing online applications to result announcement of the preliminary exam, in different months of the year, it will, obviously, fasten the process, limiting it to a few months only.

The implementation of the NRA CET will provide a level field for all candidates and will be considered as a preliminary examination for specific posts.

Salient Features of NRA CET

Union Personnel Minister Jitendra Kumar said that “the CET will reach out to the far-flung, the underprivileged and the women equally, it will provide equal opportunities to all the country people and will directly benefit crores of youth. 

The following are the main features of the CET scheme -

• Common online registration process
• Separate CETs for 10^th, 12^th, and graduate-level candidates
• The scored marks of the candidate will be provided to both candidates and the individual recruitment agency.
• The candidate’s score will be valid for up to 3 years from the result declaration date.
• Each candidate will have two additional chances to improve his score, and the best of all available scores shall be deemed to be the current score of the candidate.
• The final selection will be made through separate specialized examinations to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.

Objectives of NRA CET

The main objective behind this proposal is -

• To reduce the hardships faced by the poor sector candidates of our country to appear for multiple exams conducted by multiple agencies having similar eligibility criteria and exam patterns.
• To save the application fee amount paid by candidates in every recruitment exam and traveling cost of multiple exams.
• Setting up the exam center in every district will facilitate easy access to the candidates belonging to the rural sector. 
• To facilitate employment generation.

Other Benefits of NRA CET

• The General Aptitude Test will be subject to the upper age limit and there will be no limit on the number of opportunities for candidates to participate in the CET.
• SC, ST, OBC, women, and disabled candidates will be given upper age relaxation as per the existing reservation policies of the government.
• The syllabus of the CET exam will be normal as well as standard. This will reduce the burden of the candidates who currently prepare for each exam according to the different syllabus.
• Candidates can schedule the test and choose the test center of their choice.
• The CET score of the candidates can also be used by the Central Government, State Government, Union Territories, Public Sector Undertakings and Private Sector for recruitment.
• The CET will be conducted at more than 1000 centers and every district will have at least one examination center.

Download the Government Notice Here!

Summary:

As you all know that the government job aspirants have to give different recruitment exams for different posts, which costs them both loss of money and time. Also, they have to travel long distances to participate in these examinations. 

But, this new decision of the government will definitely reduce the burden of thousands of exams and benefit them in more than one way.

In this article, we have tried to provide the roles, responsibilities, salient features, objectives, and benefits of NRA CET so that all the students become familiar with this new scheme. 

We will keep you posted regularly in case there is any update. Stay tuned with our portal.

Thanks for reading!!