Common Eligibility Test Likely To Be Delayed Again Due To Covid Cases, New Date to be Announced Soon: Report

The Common Eligibility Test (CET) was scheduled to be held in March this year.

CET 2022 Latest Update: The Common Eligibility Test (CET), which is being conducted to screen candidates for jobs in the central government and public sector banks, is likely to be delayed again due to rising number of COVID cases in the country, a report by News18 .com claimed.

It must be noted that the CET 2022 to select candidates for Group B (non-gazetted), Group C (non-technical) posts in the central government and public sector banks was scheduled to be held in March this year.

Speaking to News 18, a senior official in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said a thorough assessment will be carried out by the government to examine the feasibility of conducting the examination and will take a decision on the next course of action and the next possible timeframe.

However, the official said that looking at the current COVID situation, the CET is unlikely to be held by March.

Notably. the Common Eligibility Test has been delayed for the second time due to the COVID pandemic. It was first scheduled to be held in September-October last year.

The Central government had in 2020 established the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct preliminary examination for nearly 4 crore candidates who apply for around 1.25 lakh central government jobs every year.

And the NRA carries out the initial screening and shortlisting of candidates for government jobs through the CET which are currently held by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) and Railway Recruitment Board (RRB).

Giving more details, the DoPT official said the scope of the examination will be expanded to cover other government jobs in the coming years. Right now, the recruitment to non-gazetted posts in the central government takes place at the levels of class 10, class 12, and upon graduation.