NEW DELHI, Dec 3:
In a major move, the Centre has proposed that all recruitment for Group B and C posts be done by a specialised agency through a single examination — the Common Eligibility Test (CET).
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts civil services examination annually to select officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS), besides other Group A and Group B (gazetted) services.
Besides it, the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) also does recruitment for Central Government Depart-ments — mainly to select staff for Group B posts.
“It is proposed to set up a specialised agency to conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) to shortlist candidates for appointment to Group ‘B’ non-gazetted posts, certain Group ‘B’ gazetted posts, Group ‘C’ posts in the Government and equivalent posts in instrumentalities of the Government,” the Personnel Ministry said.
Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said the proposed move will provide a level playing field for all regardless of their background besides being cost-effective both for those appearing in the examination and the Government agencies conducting it.
“It is one of the many innovative steps taken by the Government under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring in ease of governance and thereby ease of living,” Singh told PTI.
The Ministry has sought response from ministries/departments of Government of India, State Governments/Union territories administrations and public/ stakeholders, “particularly candidates aspiring to join Government/public sector jobs” within one month.
According to a latest Government data, of the total of 6,83,823 vacant posts in Central Government departments, 5,74,289 are in Group C, 89,638 in Group B and 19,896 in Group A category, as on March 1, 2018.
At present, candidates seeking government jobs have to appear for multiple separate examinations conducted by various recruiting agencies for posts, for which similar eligibility criterion have been prescribed.
These recruitment examinations comprise of multiple layers, such as tier-1, tier-2, tier-3, skill tests and others. Ordinarily, the tier-1 examination comprises a computer-based online multiple-choice objective-type test.
Every year, approximately 2.5 crore candidates appear in multiple such recruitment examinations for approximately 1.25 lakh vacancies.
“It is proposed to introduce a Common Eligibility Test (CET) to shortlist candidates for vacancies of Group ‘B’ non-gazetted posts, certain Group ‘B’ gazetted posts, Group ‘C’ posts in the Government and equivalent posts in instrumentalities of the Government through a computer based online examination to be conducted exclusively by a specialised agency,” the personnel ministry said. (PTI)
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