PM Modi hails creation of NRA, says 'Boon for crores of youngsters'; cites benefit of CET

Hailing the Union Cabinet's approval of the National Recruitment Agency's creation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday opined that this will prove to be a "boon" for crores of youngsters. He contended that the Common Eligibility Test shall eliminate multiple tests and save precious time as well as resources. According to the PM, the NRA will give a big boost to transparency as well. The NRA seeks to streamline the present situation in which candidates seeking government jobs have to appear for separate examinations conducted by multiple recruiting agencies.

This multi-agency body shall conduct a CET to shortlist candidates for Group B and C (non-technical) posts. With representatives of Railways Ministry, Finance Ministry, Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board, and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection on board, the NRA aims to bring state-of-the-art technology and best practices to the field of Central government recruitment. The Centre has sanctioned Rs.1517.57 crore for the NRA to be spent over a period of three years. 

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Government job seekers to benefit

Currently, candidates not only have to pay a fee to multiple recruiting agencies but also have to travel long distances for appearing in various exams. This leads to avoidable expenditure, law and order issues, and venue related problems. On the other hand, a CET shall enable these candidates to appear once and apply to any or all of these recruitment agencies for the higher level of examination. 

The Centre has envisaged the creation of examination centres in every district to provide access to the candidates living in far-flung areas. There will be a special focus on creating examination infrastructure in 117 aspirational districts. This would help motivate the rural candidates, thereby enhancing their representation in government jobs. Also, a single examination conducted in every district shall help reduce the expenditure on candidates to a large extent. 

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Furthermore, the CET score of the candidate will remain valid for three years from the date of result declaration, besides the best of the valid scores being considered as the current score of the candidate. There shall be no restriction in the number of attempts to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit, which shall be relaxed for SC/ST/OBC candidates. In a big boost for the candidates, the CET will be available in multiple languages. 

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(Image credits: PTI)