Cabinet approves new National Recruitment Agency; to allow common test for all govt jobs

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the formation of a National Recruitment Agency, under which a common exam will be held for all government jobs in the country. "This decision will benefit job seeking youth of the country," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

Cabinet Secretary C Chandramouli, Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pensions, said the government recruitment exams have different schedules, application processes, fees and many malpractices take place due to infrastructural challenges. "To eliminate these challenges, a historic the decision of setting up a National Recruitment Agency has been taken by the Cabinet," he said.

The National Recruitment Agency will be an autonomous society registered under the Societies Act, with representatives from all three agencies. The NRA will conduct a Tier-1 exam, which will be conducted online and candidates' scores will be available immediately, he said.

He said the Centre will encourage candidates to undertake the common eligibility test. "The outreach services will be provided; based on information, areas not throwing up many candidates will be reached out to; exams will be promoted and helpline will be set up for assisting candidates," he added.

Chandramouli said there are almost more than 20 recruitment agencies in central government. Though the Centre is making exams of only three agencies common as of now, in course of time, all recruitment agencies will have only one common eligibility test.

Appreciating the Cabinet decision, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said: "It's one of the most landmark reforms in the history of independent India. It'll bring in ease of recruitment, selection, job placement and ease of living particularly for certain sections of society which are at a disadvantage on one account or the other."

What is role of National Recruitment Agency

• The National Recruitment Agency to initially conduct CET twice a year. It will be a multiple-choice objective type question paper.
• CET scores can be shared with central and state governments, PSUs, private the sector, thus reducing recruitment costs of these organisations.
• The National Recruitment Agency will ensure transparency and ease in recruitment process, both for the candidate and the recruiting organisation.
• Scores of CET will be valid for 3 years; candidates can improve the score by appearing again and the best score will be considered.

Also read: UGC cautions against online, open learning in medicine, law, 10 other 'prohibited programmes'New Education Policy 2020: 15 big reforms in schools, higher education explained