Common eligibility test for govt jobs soon, PSBS gets approval

OFFICIALS SAID UNDER THE NEW CET SYSTEM, NO LIMIT ON THE NUMBERS OF ATTEMPTS WILL BE IMPOSED

NEWDELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod to set up a National Recruitment Agency (NRA), which will conduct a common eligibility test (CET) for all non-gazetted posts, including Group B and Group C (non-technical) jobs, setting in motion a major move aimed at streamlining government recruitment.

Under the new system, around 25 million aspirants, who appear for separate, multiple examinations to join more than 125,000 government jobs every year, will have to take a single online exam whose score will be valid for a period of three years and will serve as a preliminary screening mark for all eligible posts across various central government agencies.

Officials said that under the new CET system, no limit on the numbers of attempts will be imposed on the candidates taking the exam. They added that the test will be conducted for the graduate, higher secondary (12th pass) and the matriculate (10th pass) levels with a common curriculum. Based on their CET score, the candidates may have to take additional examinations at the agency level.

NRA will have representatives from the railways ministry, finance ministry, the Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, a government release said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the CET it will eliminate multiple tests and save precious time as well as resources. “This will also be a big boost to transparency,” he tweeted after the Cabinet meeting.