New Delhi: The central government is all set to create a National Recruitment Authority, which would conduct a common test for Group B (non-gazetted) and Group C posts — a major overhaul of the way government employees are recruited.
According to senior officials in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the NRA would conduct a one-stop exam for all the non-gazetted Group B and Group C posts, which currently have close to 1.5 lakh vacancies, as per government estimates.
Under the existing system, different arms of the government such as the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and the Railway Board among others conduct different exams to fill in the vacancies. The cycle of recruitment takes up to 18-20 months.
The new system will ensure that the recruitment time is compressed to three months, a senior DoPT official said on the condition of anonymity. “We are hoping that the NRA will be established and rolled out within a year of the new government coming to power,” the official said. “It would be a paradigm shift in the way recruitments take place and would ensure that vacancies in the government are filled within time…In fact, it would ensure that there are no vacancies in the government.”
According to the official, for most of these posts, the eligibility criteria is somewhat similar — 10th pass, 12th pass or graduate. So instead of having different exams, a common criterion can be set for the posts, and the exam can be conducted. The recruiting agencies will then be able to decide separate cut-offs for separate posts and recruit people accordingly.
‘Will help candidates as well’
The single exam, the official explained, would reduce the overlap in applications received by the government.
“Each candidate applies for several government posts at the same time hoping to be selected in at least one…As a result, for each post we have applications running into lakhs,” the official said. “If we have a common test, all the applicants will have to apply once, and will be selected on the basis of the cut-off.”
The move would also save applicants the trouble of taking several exams.
Through the NRA, the government plans to create an architecture similar to other entrance exams such as the GMAT or CAT, etc, the official said.
The score secured in the exam will be valid for three years and the candidate will have the option to improve the score anytime.
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‘The idea is to fill vacancies fast’
Under the existing system, agencies have been given an action plan to fill vacancies by 31 December, the official added.
“The idea is that within 100 days of the next government, the groundwork for the NRA starts, and at the same time agencies keep filling vacancies under the existing system as well,” the official said.
The Modi government has received much criticism for not filling up vacancies in government jobs, even as it proposed a new quota for the Economically Weaker Sections among upper castes, just months before the Lok Sabha polls.
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