The Central Government has recently approved the setting up of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) on
19th August 2020. The function of this National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will be to conduct the Common
Eligibility Test (CET). This exam was proposed in the Rajya Sabha way back on 14th March 2018 whereas the
concept of NRA was first proposed in the Union Budget 2020. This exam will be conducted for the selection
of aspirants to the various non-gazetted Group B and Group C posts in the Central Government, State/UT
Government and the Public Sector Banks. The idea behind this exam is to replace various other exams for
the said posts with one single exam. Currently, these exams are being conducted by different hiring
organizations like the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS),
Railways Recruitment Board (RRB), etc. The scores of this exam will be valid for three years. There will
be no limitations on the number of attempts and the best among these scores will be considered valid.
National Recruitment Agency And Common Eligibility Test
There seems to be a lot of confusion among the candidates in regard to these new terms i.e. NRA and CET.
In simple words, the Common Eligibility Test will act as one single screening/shortlisting test for
various Group B and Group C exams. Generally, for most of the exams, the selection takes place through
multiple stages i.e. preliminary exam, main exam, skill test/interview. The CET will replace the
preliminary stage for all the said exams. On the other hand, the multi-agency body called the National
Recruitment Agency (NRA), will be responsible for the conduction of this CET. The candidates who will
clear this CET will be assessed further through specialized tiers (i.e. tier 2, tier 3 exams) by the
respective organization i.e. SSC, IBPS, etc.
| NRA CET Major Highlights |
| NRA Full Form |
National Recruitment Agency
|
| CET Full Form |
Common Eligibility Test |
| Frequency |
Twice a year |
| Exam Language |
12 Major Indian Languages |
| Score Validity |
3 years |
| Number Of Attempts |
No bar on attempts |
| Exam Centres |
1000+ (every district of the country) |
| Mode of Exam |
Computer-Based Online |
| Posts Covered |
Group B (Non-Gazetted), Group B "Gazetted" (exempted from the consultation of UPSC), Group C
|
CET Exam Dates
The National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) from September
2021. This announcement was made by the Union Minister Jitendra Singh in the Lok Sabha.
Exams To Be Replaced By The CET
As discussed earlier, the NRA will replace the Staff Selection Commission, Railways Recruitment Board &
other such Govt exam conducting bodies for the conduction of preliminary test or the
screening/shortlisting test only. The final appointment or the selection will be carried out through a
domain-specific exam to be conducted by respective agencies (i.e. SSC/RRB/IBPS). The CET will replace
the examinations from agencies:
A. Staff Selection Commission
- The SSC conducts various crucial examinations for students hailing from different
educational backgrounds like class 10th, class 12th, and graduate level. These various examinations
like Combined Higher Secondary Level, Combined Graduate Level, Central Police Organization Exam,etc.
are conducted across various stages like Tier 1, Tier 2, and so on. The first tier for all of these
exams have a somewhat similar exam pattern or syllabus. The CET will replace all these tier 1 exams.
B. Railways Recruitment Board
- Indian Railways is one of the largest employers in the country when it comes to Govt
jobs. The RRB too conducts various examinations like NTPC, Group D, etc. across various CBTs i.e.
Computer Based Tests. The Common Eligibility Test will replace the CBT 1 stage for all the exams.
C. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Board
- The IBPS conducts examinations for the recruitment of various banking posts like
Clerk, Bank PO, Bank SO, etc. For all such examinations, the IBPS arranges a preliminary exam. The
CET will replace all these preliminary examinations for all such banking posts. The further stages
of selection i.e. mains, interview, etc. will be conducted by IBPS only.