BackNational Recruitment Agency to reduce government hiring time: DoPT secretary
In an interview to All India Radio, the secretary said NRA will be conducting the preliminary examination which is currently being conducted by different organizations
PremiumFrom almost 18 months now, the government jobs recruitment time will come down significantly because of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA), C. Chandramouli secretary department of personnel and training (DoPT) said Thursday.
In an interview to All India Radio, the secretary said NRA will be conducting the preliminary examination which is currently being conducted by different organizations. It’s a filtration examination, which allows the specific organization like staff selection commission or Railway Recruitment Board to try the higher level of examination.
“When you go to the second level or higher…they are looking for specific skill sets. For example if you are applying for the railways, they have a slightly different requirement, as compared to the banks, or as compared to the General Secretariat services. So the second level of examinations will be conducted by the respective organizations," Chandramouli said.
“Since, the numbers will be much reduced, they will be able to concentrate on the quality of the examination, they would also save a lot of time, effort and money in conducting these examinations," he said. It will “reduce the recruitment cycle time".
He said the decision to have a NRA will offer major relief to students, especially the poor from rural areas, and also for women candidates. The Secretary reiterated that all the districts will have exam centers for government jobs, and all the aspirational districts will have new recruitment infrastructures.
He said some organizations have indicated to use NRA score and they will “just go in for a medical and health checkup as well as other physical tests" before recruitment. “If it is a job which requires those kinds of skill sets, (then it) straight away starts the recruitment. This will greatly enhance the recruitment process, and bring down cycle times substantially," Chandramouli said.
On 19 Aug, the union cabinet approved to create NRA that will conduct exams for non-gazetted jobs in central government departments and public sector banks. The agency will conduct a single entrance exam for tens of thousands of such positions that fall vacant every year. The current recruitment model comprises separate exams held by different recruitment agencies, including some by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The UPSC, however, will continue to conduct top administrative exams, including the civil services .
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