What is National Recruitment Agency (NRA)? NRA to conduct Common Entrance Test (CET) for Government Exams

 Union Cabinet announced the formation of a National Recruitment Agency (NRA) which will conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment of Group B & Group C government jobs.

Written by: Nitu Chowrasia

#NationalRecruitmentAgency #NPA #GovernmentExams

19^th August 2020: 

Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 19^th August, under the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced the formation “National Recruitment agency (NRA)” which will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Group B & Group C category of Government jobs. Its aim is to be the only recruitment agency for the entire public sector preliminary entrance exam for these groups. 

The historic decision taken by the Union Cabinet, to set up National Recruitment Agency marks a paradigm shift in the government recruitment process.

Presently candidates have to apply to different recruitment agencies for different exams. To understand in a simple way check the below example:

Ex: For Railway jobs there is an agency called  RRB (Railway Recruitment Board) which takes different exams for different vacancies in the Railway field. There are many categories in Railway post like NTPC (Non-Technical Popular Categories), Junior Engineer, RRB ALP (Assistant Loco Pilot) and many more.

Currently for candidates applying to each of these jobs have to separately (i.e. For each post individually) look for their vacancy, track their form notification, worry about the last date of form submission, pay money for each form, fill it, prepare for it, travel to different places as per different exam centers and wait for their results individually. All this causes a lot of chaos for a person pursuing a government job. These things seem to cause more mental pressure than the preparation of the exam itself.

For Banking exams also there is a separate recruitment agency called IBPS which conducts its own exam for banking positions. Same goes for Staff selection commission (SSC).

Presently almost 20 different agencies take their own eligibility test to qualify for the respective government posts. 

Hence to eliminate this and release the pressure from the youth to fill different forms for different  government jobs they now have to fill only one recruitment form which will be through National Recruitment Agency. NRA will now be the only agency that will conduct the preliminary entrance test for all the government positions.

>> Which government exams are included under the NRA?

To begin with currently Banking Exams, Railways Exams & Staff Selection Commission (SSC) exams are included under the NRA. In future, there are plans to include other government and public sector exams as well. It will also be advised to the state governments who conduct different state level exams to consider conducting their preliminary or initial tier via NRA.

>> Does it mean that individual recruitment boards will be abolished?

No! Note that, National Recruitment Agency will conduct the Common Eligibility Test only for the ‘Preliminary/Initial/Tier One level’ exam. The preliminary level of all the different exams is more or less the same because they test the common aptitude, general knowledge and logical thinking of students.

The next phase of the exams will be conducted as per different boards and their rules. This is because specific exams on the second stage will check the knowledge required for that job category.

>> How will NRA work?

1. NRA will conduct single Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Group A & Group B government posts.

2.CET will be the preliminary test which will be applicable for all the eligible government exams. Currently for Railway, Bank & SSC.

3.Candidates will have to fill only one form irrespective of which  government post they want to pursue.

4.After the results for the initial stage is announced by the NRA, candidates can then apply for the second stage of the selection in the desired field (Railway / Banking / SSC etc.) based on their score.

5. Employers can also recruit candidates and call for further tests based on the list of scores that they get from the NRA.

6.It’s a win-win situation for both applicants & employers. They both have a choice to choose each other based on the score of CET.

>> What are the features of the Common Entrance Test (CET)?

v With CET, candidates will now have to give only one exam for Tier 1 for all the government positions under Group B & C.

v Standard Curriculum i.e. students will not have to worry about the vastness of the syllabus and wander from one to another.

v Standard degree of difficulty in questions.

v Exams will be conducted in multiple languages, the initial attempt is to provide in 12 different languages.

v This will be an online examination and the results will be declared immediately.

v Based on one CET score candidates can apply for multiple positions. For example, with one CET score, a person can apply to Banking, Railway, or SSC if they are eligible for the second stage.

v CET will be taken twice a year.

v This CET score will be valid for 3 years.

v Candidate can appear for this test multiple times to improve their score.

v Candidates can choose their best score out of the multiple attempts taken and apply to different positions for recruitment.

>> Why we need a National Recruitment Agency (NRA) 

Currently the students and the youth of this country who have the desire and passion to enter into government jobs have to give different eligibility test for all the different fields available in the government sector. For this the students have to suffer a lot.

Problems Faced by Candidates currently are:

 

1. Different Schedule of Recruitment Examinations- Every recruitment agency have their own schedule and date of examination, the candidates have to always keep a track of individual exam notification. They worry about missing out on the dates of the exams and the form filling. This they have to do for every exam that they plan to appear for in order to get the desired government job which ultimately causes a lot of mental frustration.

 

2. Different Application Process- Every recruitment agency has its own application process. Some allow online form filling and payment procedure whereas others might have a process for demand draft for which the candidate has to visit banks and other places in order to fulfill the required process.

 

3. Multiple Fees- Students have to pay multiple fees for every form that they fill for different recruitment agencies. For example, they have to pay separate fees for openings in different railway positions, then separate fees for bank exams and likewise for other exams as well. So it causes a hole in the student’s pocket.

 

4. Different Curriculum- Though the level of the preliminary stage of most of the entrance exams in this category are more or less same but still, the individual recruitment board has their own curriculum. The vastness of the syllabus also differs for different exams.

 

5. Clash of Examination Dates- This is one of the most common problems that youths have to face. It happens that the dates of two exams clash and this puts a student into a dilemma to choose one out of the two exams to give. So He/She has to miss out on one of the exams for an entire year.

 

6. Difficulty for Rural / Remote Candidates- Mostly the exam centers are in urban areas. So people from rural/remote areas have to travel far to these centers. It becomes difficult to travel frequently for different exams and mostly for female and differently-abled candidates. Sometimes Parents, relatives, or an escort is needed for the students to take them to these venues and unavailability of the same results into candidates not appearing for the exam itself.

 

7. Transportation & Lodging Cost- Because of frequent traveling for different exams the travel cost increases. Then not everyone will have a relative, place to stay in the state or near to the place of their exam centers, for this, they have to bear lodging expenses. The cost increases multiple times due to multiple exams and it’s a matter of consideration.

8. Security- The exam centers have to be given security. For that, the district officers have to participate and a large scale mobilization of police forces is done. So every time different recruitment agencies take their exam these processes are done which is costly and also requires a huge amount of management and workforce. In short waste of time, man force utilization and money.

9.  Crisis of Infrastructure- There are selective centers for  these exams, mostly in urban areas where computer facilities are available.

10.Malpractices at certain Institutions- Since many exams are conducted at the same time due to lack of infrastructure, poor facility, and security, the chances of malpractices at certain places increases.

   12. Long Recruitment Cycle- Since multiple exams are taken by different boards, the time of evaluation increases. The entire recruitment cycle increases. There have been instances where candidates have to wait for a year or two for their stage 1 result. Hence it becomes mental harassment for students because they don’t know whether to wait for the result of an already given exam or to apply for another.

 

   13. Rising Cost- Due to all the above reasons the cost incurred is huge. And since all these different recruitment agencies are under government, ultimately it’s the loss for the government as well. 

Problem Faced by the Institutions:

Not only candidate’s even institutions have to face many problems.

1. Multiple Recruitment agencies – As already said there are almost 20 agencies currently taking these entrance exams and hence cost for the organization of the exams, infrastructure, Security, management force increases many folds.

2. Multiple Tiers of Examination- Since multiple exams happen in multiple tiers, the institutions have to be prepared throughout the year.

3. Lack of standardization– All the exams are not at the same level. Some might be easy and some comparatively hard. So in order to bring it on the same level at least for the preliminary stage standardization is needed.

4. Availability of Venues- The centers for conducting this exam are limited, mostly in urban areas with computer facilities.

5. Supervision & Invigilation- Obviously, the invigilators are also limited hence when multiple exams are conducted the same invigilators have to be moved from here to there.

6. Delay in Result Finalization– When different boards conduct multiple exams it takes time for them to evaluate and bring out the result at the earliest. As already mentioned sometimes it takes more than a year.

Conclusion:

v The cost incurred to carry out all the different exams for different recruitments is huge.

v Students have to face a lot of hassle, waste time and energy filling different form.

v It becomes frustrating to prepare for different levels of exams at the same time.

v Mental pressure to cope up with different requirements of different agencies becomes more than the preparation itself.

v It is costly both for the students and the institutions. 

>> Will there be any change in the age limit?  

No there will be no change in the age limit. The age limits will be according to the respective recruitment agencies. For example, if Railway considers a certain age limit and banking a different age limit, then according to age, after the CET qualification, whichever board is applicable will be considered.

>> How will the (NRA/CET) benefit the candidates? 

·        A common Registration

·        Single fee for a single form

·        Common Curriculum

·        Standard question banks

·        Exam in Multiple languages

·        Secure examination process

·        Faster Score generation

·        Reduce time for the recruitment cycle

·        Better infrastructure to be provided

·        Improved facilities and access for rural candidates, women, and differently-abled.

·        Plan to build 1000 exam centers, probably 1 center in every district so that no candidate has to travel outside his district.

>> Who will operate NRA?  

The National Recruitment Agency (NPA) will be headquartered in Delhi, conducted by a chairman, who will be of the stature of the secretary of the government of India.