On August 19, 2015, the Reserve Bank of India released a notification detailing the new procedure for recruitment of officers in Grade-‘B’-DR from this year onward. The central bank has changed aspects like the examination pattern and duration, age criteria, no. of attempts, among others. Let’s have a look at the procedural details as well as the prescribed syllabi.
1. Examination pattern and selection: The entrance examination
will comprise two phases, namely Phase-I and Phase-II, which will be followed
by personal interview. Both phases of the examination are online and will have
objective type, multiple choice questions (except the English paper in Phase-II).
a. Phase-I: This consists
of a 200-mark paper with 4 sections,
namely General Awareness, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and
Reasoning. The duration of this exam is 2 hours.
b. Phase-II: This consists
of three papers, each of 1½ hours duration and 100 marks. Paper-I- English,
Paper-II- Economics and Social Issues and Paper-III (optional subjects)-Finance
& Management/Economics/Statistics. While the paper on English will be
descriptive i.e. responses will have to be typed on a computer keyboard, the
other two papers will have MCQs.
c. Interview: It carries 50
marks and will be conducted as per the existing format.
d. Candidates successful
in Phase-I examination will appear for Phase-II on a later date, which will be within
2-3 weeks of completion of Phase-I examination. Candidates will be shortlisted
for personal interview based on Phase-II results.
Final selection will be through merit lists, which will be prepared by adding
up marks secured in all the three papers of Phase-II examination and the
interview.
2. Age criteria and relaxation of upper age limit
a. The present age
criteria has been retained. Candidates between 21-30 years of age can apply for
the Grade-B officer position.
b. For M. Phil and Ph. D candidates the
upper age limit has been increased to 32 and 34 years, respectively from the
previous 31 and 33 years.
c. In keeping with the existing practice
age relaxation will be applicable to experienced candidates, namely those
having prior experience as an officer in a commercial bank/ financial institution
in the public sector and also in the RBI, to the extent of number of years of
such experience subject to a maximum of three years. For such candidates, upper
age limit including experience is 33 years and probationary period will not be considered
for experience.
d. There are relaxations in upper age limit
as per statutory requirements and for the staff.
e. Cumulative age relaxation will not be
available in combination with any items mentioned at b, c, and d.
3. Educational qualifications: Candidates should
have secured-
a. First Class Bachelor’s
Degree with a
minimum of 60% marks (50% in case of SC/ST/PWD) or an
equivalent grade. The same applies for 12th and 10th
standard examinations.
4. No. of attempts: The
maximum number of attempts (which were applicable for candidates belonging to
the Unreserved/General Category) has been increased from 4 to 6.
5. Pay Scale: Selected
Candidates will draw a starting basic pay of `21,000/- p.m. in the scale of
`21000-1000-30000-EB-1000-32000-1100-36400 applicable to Officers in Grade B
and they will also be eligible for Dearness Allowance (DA), Local Allowance,
House Rent Allowance (HRA), Family Allowance, and Grade Allowance as per rules
in force from time to time. At present, initial monthly gross emoluments are
approximately 56000/-
6. Syllabi for Phase-II examination
a. English: Questions will assess the candidates’ writing
skills including expression and understanding of a topic.
b. Economic and Social Issues: Growth and Development; Measurement of
growth: National Income and per capita income; Poverty Alleviation and
Employment Generation in India; Sustainable Development and Environmental issues.
Economic Reforms in India- Industrial and Labour Policy; Monetary and Fiscal
Policy; Privatization; Role of Economic Planning. Globalization- Opening up of
the Indian Economy; Balance of Payments, Export-Import Policy; International
Economic Institutions- IMF and World Bank; WTO; Regional Economic Co-operation.
Social Structure in India-Multiculturalism; Demographic Trends; Urbanization
and Migration; Gender Issues; Social Justice: Positive Discrimination in favour
of the underprivileged; Social Movements; Indian Political System; Human
Development; Social Sectors in India- Health and Education.
Reference material: Candidates can refer to NCERT and
IGNOU material to cover basics of all the topics. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh is also a useful reference book. Newspapers
like Economic Times, Business Standard and The Hindu besides the RBI bulletins
and magazines like Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) are recommended to be
abreast of recent economic and social developments.
c. * Finance and Management: Questions in
this section will be basic in nature.
(i) Finance
–
Financial System: Regulators
of banks-the RBI- functions and monetary policy, banking system in India,
financial institutions like SIDBI, EXIM, NABARD, NHB, etc.
–
Financial Markets: Primary and secondary markets (forex,
money, bond, equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments.
–
General topics: Risk management; Basics of derivatives;
Changing landscape of banking sector; Recent developments in the financial
sector; Portfolio investment; Public sector reforms; Disinvestments; Financial
inclusion and use of technology; Corporate governance in the banking sector;
Union Budget – direct and Indirect taxes; Non-tax sources of revenue; GST; Finance
Commission; Fiscal policy; Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act
(FRBM) and Inflation – definition, trends,
estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI – components and
trends.
(ii) Management: Management-nature
and scope; Management processes; Role of a Manager in an organisation.
Leadership-tasks of a Leader; leadership styles and theories; Successful leader
versus an effective Leader. Human Resource Development- concept of HRD; goals
of HRD. Performance appraisal- potential appraisal and development; Feedback
and performance counselling. Career planning- training and development; rewards;
employee welfare. Motivation- Morale and incentives; theories of motivation; how
managers motivate. Concept of Morale-factors determining morale; role of
Incentives in building-up morale. Communication- steps in the communication process;
communication channels; oral versus written communication; verbal versus
non-verbal communication; upward, downward and lateral communication; barriers
to communication, role of Information Technology. Corporate Governance-factors
affecting corporate governance; mechanisms of corporate governance.
Reference material: Economic Growth and Development – Mayer and Baldwin, Financial
Management – Prasanna Chandra. Candidates can also refer to Ministry of Finance
reports and excerpts of important committees’ recommendations.
* Economics: Microeconomics,
macroeconomics, public economics, international economics, financial sector
regulation, and India’s economy and development issues.
Reference Material: Microeconomics,
Student Value Edition (8th edition) by Robert Pindyck, Daniel Rubinfeld; Intermediate
Microeconomics: A Modern Approach (8th edition) by Hal R. Varian; Macroeconomics
(2011) by Rudiger Dornbusch, Stanley Fisher, Richard Starz.
* Statistics: Probability,
statistical methods, linear models, statistical inference, multivariate
analysis, optimisation techniques and statistical quality control, sample
surveys and design of experiments, applied economic statistics, vital
statistics, numerical analysis and basic computer applications.
Reference Material: Atkinson, K.E. (1989):
An Introduction to Numerical Analysis, Wiley; Bhat, B.R. (2007): Modern
Probability Theory, New Age International; Cochran, William G. (1977): Sampling
Techniques. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
For a
complete list of books for each subject, click on the link below:
https://opportunities.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=3061
All the Best!
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