The Union Cabinet  has decided to set up a National Recruitment Agency (NRA). NRA will conduct a common preliminary examination, Common Eligibility Test (CET) for various recruitments, for all non-gazetted posts, including Group B and C (non-technical) jobs, in the central government; based on the CET score a candidate can apply for a vacancy with the respective agency.

Based on the screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialised Tiers (II, III, etc.) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies. The curriculum for CET would be common.

The decision will allow job-seekers take one common test and save costs and time spent on writing multiple exams. There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit.

The CET score of a candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result. To make it easier for candidates, examination centres would be set up in every district of the country.BBThe CET will be conducted in multiple languages.

The agency will have representatives from SSC, IBPS and RRB. The test will be conducted for three levels: graduate, higher secondary (12th pass) and the matriculate (10th pass) candidates.