Common Eligibility Test for Central government jobs from 2022: Minister

Bhubaneswar: A Common Eligibility Test (CET) will be conducted across the country from early 2022 to screen and shortlist candidates for recruitment to Central government jobs, said Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space.

The Minister further informed that the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) for conducting Common Eligibility Test has been constituted with the approval of the Union Cabinet. NRA will conduct CET to screen/ shortlist candidates for jobs in Government sector for which recruitment is presently carried out through the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).

NRA will be a multi-agency body which will conduct the common test to screen and shortlist candidates for Group-‘B’ and ‘C’ (non-technical) posts. The most significant feature of this reform is that every district in the country will have at least one Examination Centre which would greatly enhance access to the candidates living in far-flung areas, the minister said.

This unique initiative undertaken with the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to take off with the first such test before the end of this year, but is likely to get delayed on account of COVID pandemic, he said.

Singh said the Common Entrance Test is a path-breaking reform carried out by Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) to bring about “Ease of Recruitment” for young job aspirants and it will prove to be a major boon for youth, especially those living in far-flung and remote areas. This landmark reform is also a reflection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s deep and sensitive concern for the youths and his keenness to provide level playing field and equal opportunity to youth across the country, he added.