New Delhi: In a first-of-its-kind arrangement, the Narendra Modi administration has proposed that the private sector can tap into job applications that the government receives for employment in the public sector.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued a notice in this regard on 2 December.
The central government is considering setting up a one-stop recruitment agency that would conduct a GMAT-like exam — called the Common Eligibility Test (CET), which will save applicants the trouble of taking several tests — to recruit or shortlist candidates.
In the notice, the DoPT has proposed compilation of a database by this recruitment agency that will have applications of lakhs of aspirants applying for jobs in the government sector. This database will be made available to the private sector.
“The CET (Common Eligibility Test) score can also be utilised by the private sector, for consideration of eligible candidates, other than those selected by government recruitment agencies, for appointment in their organisations, by entering into an arrangement with the specialised agency for CET,” the notice stated.
Besides the private sector, the central government has proposed to share the results of the CET with those states that will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with it on a cost-sharing basis.
Questions on how things will work
While this is the first time an attempt is being made to bring some convergence in the way the government and the private sector recruits employees, several questions remain on how the arrangement will finally pan out.
“A lot depends on the quality of assessment employed in the test,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, president of the Indian Staffing Federation.
“Typically, the private sector does not rely much on quantitative assessment, but if any comprehensive database is made easily available to the private sector and it is relevant to private players, it would definitely lap it up,” she added.
Chakraborty argued, though, that there is still a huge difference in the way the government hires people and the way the private sector does. “The private sector looks for aptitude, team work, etc. I’m not sure if the government has similar criteria,” she said.
She further cautioned that a generic assessment would not work, and, therefore, a lot would depend on how the government designs the test.
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How will CET help?
The government said the CET would help minimise the hardship faced by candidates who have to appear for multiple exams.
According to the notice, “At present, candidates seeking government jobs have to appear for multiple separate examinations conducted by various recruitment agencies for posts, for which similar eligibility criteria have been prescribed.”
While these recruitment examinations comprise of multiple layers — Tier-I, Tier-II, Tier-III skill tests — the first level usually comprises of a computer-based online multiple-choice objective type test, the notice added.
“Every year, approximately 2.5 crore candidates appear in multiple such recruitment examinations for approximately 1.25 lakh vacancies,” according to the notice.
To fill these vacant posts quickly and reduce the number of exams conducted by Staff Service Commission, Railway Recruitment Boards and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, the government has proposed to introduce the CET, which will be “a computer-based online examination to be conducted exclusively by a specialised agency”.
Govt also sought feedback
The DoPT notice has also asked for feedback regarding its proposal to set up the recruitment agency.
The department had asked all ministries and departments, states and union territories, and stakeholders — particularly candidates aspiring to join government or public sector jobs at Group ‘B’ non-gazetted posts, certain Group ‘B’ gazetted posts and Group ‘C’ posts — to send their feedback within a month.
ThePrint had reported in May this year that the government has decided to set up a National Recruitment Agency that would minimise duplicity in applications for various government posts that require similar eligibility criteria.
The government, however, didn’t mention in its latest notice whether it would name this agency the National Recruitment Agency, but it has decided to go ahead with the proposal.
How would the new agency work?
There would be a common registration of candidates through an online portal that would conduct separate CETs for graduate, higher secondary-passed (Class X) and matriculate-passed (Class XII) candidates for non-technical posts.
The score obtained by a candidate would then be made available to the candidate and also the various agencies to which the candidate wishes to apply.
If the candidate qualifies for the next level on the basis of this score, these agencies would subsequently conduct the next level of the examination separately. The final selection would be carried out by the respective recruitment agency.
Like GMAT or CAT scores, even CET score will be valid for three years and the candidate would be given two chances to improve their score.
Big boost to employment
At a time when the government has been under attack for increasing unemployment across the country, the proposal is being seen as a big boost to employment.
While the present recruitment cycle takes up to 18-20 months to be completed, it is predicted that the proposed one-stop agency would compress the recruitment time to just three months — thereby expediting the recruitment process considerably.
Among the other stated objectives of the proposal is improving access to rural candidates by setting up at least one test centre in every district of the country, the notice stated.
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