Common Eligibility Test for Group B, Group C Jobs: The Union government has 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 Government bodies through a computer-based online examination to be conducted exclusively by a specialized agency. As per the proposal, the specialized agency may start with conducting separate CETs for the Graduate, the Higher Secondary (12t11 pass) and the Matriculate (10th pass) candidates for non-technical posts. The recruitment for these posts is currently carried through the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Boards(RRBs) and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (1BPS).
Explaining the rationale for introducing CET for such jobs, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said in a notice on Monday: “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 viz. Tier-I, Tier-Il, Tier-Ill, Skill Tests etc. Ordinarily, the Tier-I examination comprises of a computer-based online multiple choice objective type test.”
The proposal has been put in the public domain for comments from stakeholders, including Government job aspirants.“Every year, approximately 2.5 crore candidates appear in multiple such recruitment examinations for approximately 1 .25 lakh vacancies, ” it added.
Key features of CET proposal
- Common registration of candidates through an on-line Portal.
- Separate CETs may be conducted for the Graduate, the Higher Secondary (12t11 pass) and the Matriculate (10th pass) candidates for non-technical posts for which recruitment is currently carried through the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Boards(RRBs) and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (1BPS).
- The score obtained by the candidate in the GET will be made available to him as well as to the individual recruitment agency.
- The score of a candidate will be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of result.
- Each candidate will have two additional chances to improve his score, and the best of all available scores shall be deemed to be the current score of the candidate.
- Final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialized examinations to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.
Where CET score will apply
– As per the notice, State Governments/UT Administrations may use the results of CET on cost sharing basis by entering into MoUs with the specialized agency for CET, for state government jobs.
– The CET score of the candidates can be used by Central Government Ministries/Departments for any recruitment made other than through the SSC.
– The CET score can also be utilized by private sector, for consideration of eligible candidates, other than those selected by Government recruitment agencies.
