New Delhi, August 28: The Centre will appoint a secretary-rank officer as the chairman of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA), which will conduct online Common Eligibility Test to shortlist candidates for majority of central government jobs, a Personnel Ministry order said on Friday.

Besides the chairman, the NRA will have eight members -- a secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) or his representatives, representatives of the Ministry of Railways and the Department of Financial Services, chairmen of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), and two experts from the field of academics, it said. Also Read | NEET-JEE Exams 2020 Row: Mamata Banerjee Dares PM Narendra Modi to Take Impromptu Opinion of Students During 'Mann Ki Baat'.

It will also have a Secretary and Controller of Examinations and the post will be held by an officer at the level of joint secretary to the government of India. The officer will be appointed on deputation basis, the order said. "The chairman of the NRA will be of the rank of secretary to the Government of India. He will be appointed by the government," the Personnel Ministry said. Also Read | H Vasanthakumar Dies: Congress MP From Kanyakumari Succumbs to COVID-19.

An estimated expenditure of Rs 1,517.57 crore will be incurred on setting up of NRA and conducting CETs in the first three years, it said. The NRA shall conduct a separate CET for the three levels viz, graduate, higher secondary (12th pass) and the matriculate (10th pass) candidates for those non-technical posts to which recruitment is carried out by the SSC, RRBs and by the IBPS, the order said.

Initially, a CET for each of the three levels (the graduate, the 12th pass and the 10th pass) shall be held bi-annually, it said. “NRA shall enhance the frequency of the CET at each level in a planned manner to reach a stage where it shall afford the opportunity to a candidate to book and take the test on the date and time requested by him,” the order said.

The NRA will be accountable for conducting the CETs in a swift, efficient, uniform and transparent manner, it said. There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET, the order said.

“Relaxation in the upper age limit shall be given to candidates of SC/ST/OBC and other categories as per the extant policy of the government. Based on the screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialized tests/examinations, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies,” it said.

The Union Cabinet had on August 19 approved setting up of the NRA. “Mere act of having appeared in the CET and having obtained score shall not guarantee a job to a candidate. The candidates will have to necessarily appear and qualify in the specific examination to be conducted by the individual recruitment agencies and will also have to meet the other criteria laid down by the recruitment agency in all respects, the order said.

The NRA, which will have its headquarters in Delhi NCR, will be an autonomous and self-reliant body to conduct the computer-based CET to shortlist candidates for vacancies of Group B non-Gazetted posts, Group B Gazetted posts which are exempted from consultation with the UPSC, and Group C and equivalent posts in the government, it said.

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