The Staff Selection Commission has planned a three-tier selection process based on a single application for nearly 30 posts, where separate examinations used to be conducted till now.
On the recommendation of the Second Administration Commission headed by Veerappa Moily, the proposal to conduct a single examination based on a single application was approved by the Department of Personnel and Training last month, Commission Chairman N K Raghupathy said.
The examination would be based on objective type multiple type question. The Commission is also putting in place a process for online submission of applications though the paper-based offline application would be continued this time, he said.
There are also plans to shift to online-testing platform in three years. As part of the new scheme, candidates will be advised to give option, in order of priority, for various group of posts included in the examination.
The new pattern of examination will reduce the period of recruitment process from two years to one year, he said, adding the introduction of objective multiple choice questions at the tier II level will do away with the manual checking of the answer scripts as the answers would be evaluated through a machine.
The new process would be evaluated after a period of two years based on feedback from the client departments of the Government of India, after which, if required, necessary changes would be effected, he said.
The Commission plans to move to the online testing platform from 2013 onwards, he said, adding the first online testing would be conducted for posts where the applicants were nearly 10,000 to 20,000.
The Commission would fill up nearly 15,000 posts this year and nearly 20-25 lakh candidates were expected to apply for these posts, he said.
Various departments of the Central government had started filling the vacant positions, which had resulted in a significant increase in vacancies from 6,028 positions last year to over 15,000 vacancies this year, he said. The Commission would also recruit 10,000 constables for BSF this year, he added.
To a query on alleged skewed representation from various regions of the country, Raghupathy said percentage wise, the representation was almost equal. He said the SSC had done away with zone-wise selection process after the 1996 Supreme Court judgment and was conducting selections on all-India basis.
However, the Commission had sent a proposal for increased representation to locals in various posts to the government and the government was expected to take a decision on the issue this year, he said.
Asked if the Commission would recruit personnel on behalf of the Railway Board, Raghupathy said, 'if the Railway Board wants us to undertake recruitment, they are welcome.'
SSC makes recruitment to Group B posts in the various ministries/departments of the Central Government and non-technical Group C posts in various ministries/departments, except those posts which are specifically exempt from the purview of the Commission.
