Calling it a 'boon for crores of youngsters', he said, "Through the Common Eligibility Test, it will eliminate multiple tests and save precious time as well as resources".

 

The government hopes to bring about a complete recruitment reform. "At present, candidates seeking government jobs have to appear for separate examinations conducted by multiple recruiting agencies for various posts, for which similar eligibility conditions have been prescribed. Candidates have to pay a fee to multiple recruiting agencies and also have to travel long distances for appearing in various exams," read a government statement. On an average, 2.5 crore to 3 crore candidates appear in each of these examinations. A common eligibility Test would reduce and even eliminate many of these problems.

 

It will be a multi-agency body and tests will shortlist candidates for Group B and C (non-technical) posts. The NRA will have representatives from the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS.

 

Access to exam centres was another thing that was kept in mind while bringing it in. "Special focus on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 aspirational districts would go a long way in affording access to candidates at a place nearer to where they reside. The benefits in terms of cost, effort, safety and much more would be immense. The proposal will not only ease access to rural candidates, it will also motivate the rural candidates residing in the far-flung areas to take the examination and thereby, enhance their representation in Central Government jobs," said a government statement tweeted by PM Modi.

 

It also brings a myriad benefits along with it like relief to poor candidates who will save from incurring additional expenses for travel, boarding, lodging or CET score to be made valid for three years along with no bar on attempts.

 

So, how does it work? The govt statement elaborates, "NRA shall conduct a separate CET each for the three levels of graduate, higher secondary (12th pass) and the matriculate (10th pass) candidates for those non-technical posts to which recruitment is presently carried out by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Based on the screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialised Tiers (II, III etc) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies."

 

Moreover, the CET would be available in a number of languages. The whole new concept will also shorten the recruitment cycle. The Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs 1517.57 crore for the National Recruitment Agency (NRA).