Government Recruitment & NRA

On 1 August 2014, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances asked all Union Ministries and State Governments to provide for self-certification of documents in place of affidavits, and sought to replace attestation by Gazetted Officers with self-certification; original documents are produced at the final stage. The Centre then decided to dispense with interviews for all Group C (including Group D) and non-gazetted Group B posts, and instructed the SSC to discontinue them in recruitments commencing from 1 January 2016. A ministry that considers an interview absolutely necessary for a specific post needs clearance from the Department of Personnel & Training. The Budget for 2020-21 announced a National Recruitment Agency to conduct a computer-based online Common Eligibility Test for non-gazetted posts.

The Prime Minister launched the Rozgar Mela on 22 October 2022 as a recruitment drive for 10 lakh personnel, handing over 75,000 appointment letters at 50 places, while ministries and departments filled vacancies against sanctioned posts in mission mode. A PIB backgrounder put recruitment in the first 10 editions at more than 6.5 lakh (October 2023), and more than 10 lakh recruitment letters had been issued by July 2025. Before the 19th Rozgar Mela on 23 May 2026, around 12 lakh letters had been issued through 18 Melas, and more than 51,000 were distributed at that event across 47 locations. New appointees join Central Government ministries and departments, public sector undertakings, autonomous bodies including health and educational institutes, and public sector banks.

Under the design approved by the Cabinet on 19 August 2020, the NRA is a multi-agency body with representatives of the Ministry of Railways, the Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRBs and IBPS, set up to hold a computer-based Common Eligibility Test for Group B and C (non-technical) posts. Separate CETs are planned for graduate, higher secondary (12th pass) and matriculate (10th pass) candidates, with final selection through further tiers conducted by the SSC, RRBs and IBPS. A CET score is to remain valid for three years, with no limit on attempts subject to the upper age limit. The Government sanctioned ₹1,517.57 crore for the NRA over three years, and planned examination infrastructure in the 117 Aspirational Districts.

The NRA was registered as a society on 12 December 2020, and by March 2022 it had set up an Expert Advisory Committee to recommend the CET's common syllabus and scheme. On 22 May 2022, the Minister of State for Personnel said the NRA was gearing up to conduct the CET for non-gazetted posts by the year end; no later official statement that the test has been held was found. In August 2025 the Government told the Rajya Sabha that the SSC holds three all-India examinations, and IBPS and RRBs hold their examinations, in 13 regional languages besides Hindi and English. According to a Lok Sabha reply of 12 March 2025, data on recruitment through Rozgar Melas is maintained by the respective ministries, departments and central public sector undertakings.

~12 lakh recruitment letters through 18 Rozgar Melas (22 May 2026); 10 lakh+ by 11 July 2025; 6.5 lakh+ recruited in the first 10 editions (October 2023). 51,000+ letters at the 19th Rozgar Mela (23 May 2026). ₹1,517.57 crore sanctioned for the NRA over three years (2020). 13 regional languages plus Hindi and English for SSC examinations. 1 Jan 2016 interviews discontinued for Group C/D and non-gazetted Group B recruitment. Sources: DoPT via PIB (PRIDs 1646946, 1809083, 1827415, 1917585, 2159267); Prime Minister's Office via PIB (PRIDs 1870266, 2143931, 2217748, 2264076, 2264505); PIB releases of 1 Aug 2014 and 3 Mar 2016; PIB backgrounder (31 Oct 2023); Lok Sabha reply (12 Mar 2025).