Draft:Grade-A NABARD Examination

The NABARD Grade A Examination is a national competitive examination in India conducted by IBPS and NABARD for recruitment to the post of Grade-A Officers (Assistant Manager in Group 'A') for its Rural Development Banking Services (RDBS) and Rajbhasha Services. It is regarded as one of the esteemed public service designations in India. The officers selected become part of the managerial workforce at NABARD which is one of the leading All India Financial Institution (AIFI) under the complete ownership of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

The latest recruitment cycle for NABARD Grade A Examination 2023 commenced with the Phase 1 exam which was held on 16 October. The Phase 2 exam of the candidates qualifying the Phase 1 exam was held on 19th November 2023 at various centres throughout the country. The Interview process ended by mid-February and the final result was released on 21 February 2024. As per the official notification, total 145 candidates have qualified for the post in 2023 recruitment cycle.

Emoluments and Perks
The basic pay-scale of NABARD Grade A Officer is Rs 44,500 wherein the in-hand gross salary stands at more than INR 1,30,000 per month which contains allowances for petrol, internet, telephone, househelp, children education etc. Above that the officers in Grade-A are also entitled to various annual and biennual allowances for furniture, spectacle, briefcase and leave travel concessions etc. Accommodation is also provided to the officers in their respective posting stations.

The remuneration of the NABARD employees, including the Officers in Grade-A is expected to be raised more in near future due to passage of the 12th Bipartite Settlement which was signed on 8 March 2024.

Exam Pattern
The examination for NABARD Grade A is conducted in 3 phases:

Phase-1 (Prelims): The Phase 1 exam is a single paper comprising 200 Questions and 200 Marks and is objective in nature. It is divided into 8 sections, with 5 sections of non-merit (qualifying) nature and 3 sections are of merit nature. Phase-2 (Mains): The examination in the second phase consists of two papers - Paper 1 (English) and Paper 2 (Economic and Social Issues and Agriculture and Rural Development). Interview (Personality Test): The candidates who clear Phase 2 are called for the interview in the ratio of 1:3. The interview for RDBS is conducted for 50 Marks. It is a stage of Personality Test wherein candidates attitude, temperament and knowledge base is tested to ascertain their suitability for the coveted post of Group 'A' Officer (Assistant Manager - Grade 'A') in NABARD. From the 2023 Recruitment Cycle, the aspirant are also required to give the mandatory Psychometric Test before receiving the Call Letter for the Interview Process.

Induction Training
The selected candidates of the NABARD Grade A Examination are required to attend a two-week Induction Training Program which is held at National Banking Staff College (NBSC) located alongside the premise of Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD), Lucknow. Both of these institutions have been established and managed by NABARD.

National Bank Staff College (NBSC), was set up in the year 1986 at Lucknow to cater to the training needs of the officers of NABARD. The main aim of the college is to upgrade knowledge, skills, and attitude of NABARD officers with a view to strengthening human resources in the organisation. The training programmes are conducted both in-house and on-location with the purpose of providing field level exposure on various innovations/successful models.

The college is headed by a Principal of the rank of Chief General Manager. He supervises academic, administrative and infrastructure related matters. The college has experienced senior officers from NABARD as teaching faculty having technical specialisations and work experience in diverse areas. The academic pursuit are classified in to 4 groups in the areas of Development & Projects (D&P), Human Resource & Information Technology (HR &IT), Finance & Supervision and Business.