The move has the potential to give a breath of fresh air for the youth of the country, who have been stuck in the vicious cycle of recruitment exams and an indefinite wait for jobs. At present, lakhs of aspirants appear for multiple examinations for various non-gazetted government jobs.

 

Presenting the Union Budget 2020-21 in the Parliament, Sitharaman said: "The Government intends to introduce major reforms in recruitment to non-gazetted posts in government and public sector banks." The Minister said that at present, candidates have to appear for multiple examinations conducted by multiple agencies at different points of time for similar posts.

 

"This places enormous burden on time, effort and cost of young people. Thus to mitigate their hardship faced, it is proposed to set up a NRA as an independent, professional, specialist organisation for conduct of a computer-based online Common Eligibility Test for recruitment to non-gazetted posts," she said.

 

Non-gazetted jobs are the government jobs or posts which do not give the person the authority to issue an official stamp on the behalf of the government. In terms of types of jobs, this includes Group B, Group C and Group D government jobs.

 

Sitharaman said that a test centre in every district, particularly in the aspirational districts would be set up.The Minister also stressed that it is proposed to evolve a robust mechanism for appointment including direct recruitment to tribunals and specialised bodies to attract best talents and professional experts.

 

The government in May last year admitted that India's unemployment rate had touched a 45-year high, with the latest data showing that joblessness had indeed touched 6.1 per cent in the 12-month period from July 2017 to June 2018.