Recruitment to the post of Assistant Manager in Grade ‘A’ (RDBS)

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Educational Qualification 

Bachelor’s Degree in a particular discipline means that the candidate must have studied that discipline as main subject in respective degree course and it must be mentioned in the Degree Certificate issued by the University/Institute.

(A) Assistant Manager in Grade ‘A’ (RURAL DEVELOPMENT BANKING SERVICE) (RDBS)

(i) General Bachelor’s Degree in any subject from a recognized University with a minimum of 60% marks (SC/ST/PWBD applicants – 55%) in aggregate OR Post Graduate degree, MBA/PGDM with a minimum of 55% marks (SC/ST/PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate OR CA/ CS/ICWA OR Ph.D from Institutions recognized by GOI/UGC.

(ii) Agriculture:

Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture with 60% marks (SC/ST/PWBD applicants – 55%) in aggregate OR Post Graduate degree in Agriculture / Agriculture (Soil Science/ Agronomy) with a minimum of 55% marks (SC/ST/PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate from a recognized University / Institution.

(iii) Agriculture Engineering:

Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Engineering with 60% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 55%) in aggregate OR Post graduate degree in Agriculture Engineering with a minimum of 55% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate from a recognised University / Institution.

(iv) Animal Husbandry

Bachelor’s Degree in Veterinary Sciences / Animal Husbandry from any recognized University with a minimum of 60% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 55%) in aggregate OR Post Graduate degree in Veterinary Sciences / Animal Husbandry with a minimum of 55% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate.

(v) Fisheries

Bachelor’s degree in Fisheries Science from a recognized University/Institution with 60% marks (SC/PWBD applicants 55%) in aggregate OR Post graduate degree in Fisheries Science with 55% marks (SC/PWBD applicants 50%) in aggregate.

(vi) Forestry

Bachelor’s degree in Forestry from a recognized University/Institution with 60% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 55%) in aggregate OR Post graduate degree in Forestry with 55% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate.

(vii) Plantation/Horticulture

Bachelor’s Degree in Horticulture from any recognized University with a minimum of 60% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 55%) in aggregate OR Post Graduate degree in Horticulture with a minimum of 55% marks (SC/PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate.

(viii) Land Development-Soil Science:

Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture / Agriculture (Soil Science/Agronomy) with 60% marks (PWBD applicants – 55%) in aggregate OR Post Graduate degree in Agriculture /Agriculture (Soil Science/Agronomy) with a minimum of 55% marks (PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate from a recognized University / Institution.

(ix) Water Resources

Bachelor’s degree in Hydrology/Applied Hydrology or Geology/Applied Geology with Hydrogeology /Irrigation /Water Supply & sanitation as one of the subjects with 60% marks (PWBD applicants 55%) in aggregate OR Post Graduate degree in Hydrology/Applied Hydrology or Geology/Applied Geology with Hydrogeology /Irrigation /Water Supply & sanitation as one of the subjects with 55% marks in aggregate (PWBD applicants 50%) from a recognized University.

Indicative roles and responsibility/nature of work for technical disciplines:

Sr. no.	Technical	Disciplines Skill – sets /Nature of Work
1.	Agriculture Agriculture Engineering Animal Husbandry Fisheries Forestry Horticulture LD – Soil Sci. Minor Irrigation/ Water Resources	Identifying and mapping of resource potential under related sectors and sub sectors of rural economy and SWOT analysis thereof, credit-linked planning, preparation of sectoral papers , State Focus Papers, etc. Meeting requests from client institutions, especially Banks and Government Departments, for periodic updating of techno-financial parameters and unit costs of various developmental activities. Provision of expert views, advisory services, consultancy, etc. to individual entrepreneurs, Corporates, institutions, Government Departments etc. seeking such advice. This may be in contexts of preparation of DPRs, standardisation of techno-financial norms with specific reference to new agri-business ventures such as high value agriculture, value chain financing, processing and value addition, organic farming, etc. Liaison with National / Regional Research Institutes to support their R&D interventions to develop solutions to field level technical /operational problems and innovative technologies. Liaison with Line Departments of Central as well as State Governments, ICAR, and State Universities of related disciplines. Advisory services at District/State/National level in operationalization of several Government sponsored schemes pertaining to related disciplines. Representation on various technical committees/ sub-groups constituted by State/National Level institutions etc. towards policy advocacy. Provision, and simultaneous internal capacity building, in the emerging areas of NABARD’s interest and projects being implemented by NABARD requiring specialisations / expertise from related discipline. Miscellaneous areas – suggestions / advice for effective policy formulations and business plans, Appraisal & Monitoring of proposals having NABARD’s interest and/or involvement. Documentation of Success stories and dissemination technology for replication. Any support related to technical discipline sought from time to time

 

SELECTION PROCEDURE

1. The selection will be in three Phases as furnished below:

Preliminary Examination Structure for Grade A (RDBS/Rajbhasha):

Sr. No.	Name of the Test	No. of Qs.	Max Marks	Version	Time
1.	Test of Reasoning	20	20	Bilingual – Hindi and English except test of English language	Composite time of 120 Minutes for all the tests together
2.	English Language	30	30
3.	Computer Knowledge	20	20
4.	Quantitative Aptitude	20	20
5.	Decision Making	10	10
6.	General Awareness	20	20
7.	Eco & Soc. Issues (with focus on Rural India)	40	40
8.	Agriculture & Rural Development with Emphasis on Rural India	40	40
	Total	200	200		120 Minutes

 

1. Qualifying Section – Test of Reasoning, English Language, Computer Knowledge, Quantitative Aptitude, Decision Making
2. Merit Section – General Awareness, Eco & Soc. Issues (with focus on Rural India), Agriculture & Rural Development with Emphasis on Rural India.
3. Shortlisting of the candidates for the Main exam will be based on marks scored in the Merit section only.

 

Mains Exam Test Structure for Grade A

Main Examination for the post of Generalist

Paper	Grade A	Type of Paper	No. of Question	Marks	Duration	Remarks
Paper I	General English	Online Descriptive	3	100	90 Minutes	Descriptive Answers to be typed using keyboard
Paper II	Economic and Social Issues	Objective	30	50	30 Minutes
		Descriptive Type	6 questions will be asked, of which candidates will be required to attempt 4 questions [2 of 15 marks each (with difficulty level) and 2 of 10 marks each]	50	90 Minutes	Descriptive Answers to be typed using keyboard either in English or Hindi (Remington and Inscript keyboards)

 

Interview (RDBS/Rajbhasha) : 50 Marks

The calling Ratio to qualify for the main examination and interview would be a maximum of 1:25 and 1:3, respectively. The ratio may be suitably reduced at the discretion of the bank.

Candidates who qualify and rank sufficiently high as decided by NABARD, shall be called for appearing at the Main Examination and Interview. There will be penalty for wrong answers marked by the candidate. For every wrong answer marked, 1/4th of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty in Phase-I and Phase-II, both. Cut-offs in Phase-I and Phase-II may be applied in two stages: (i) On scores in individual tests, (ii) On Total Score

Since the vacancies are earmarked discipline-wise, merit list of candidates for each stage will be prepared discipline-wise.

 

Illustrative syllabus for Phase II (Main Examination) may be as furnished below:

For Grade A (RDBS) (All Disciplines from (i) to (xi) in Table 1 and Grade A (Rajbhasha)

1) Paper I – English: Essay, Précis writing, Comprehension and Business/Office Correspondence. The paper on English shall be framed in a manner to assess the writing skills including expressions and understanding the topic.

 

For Grade A (RDBS) (General Discipline) as at (i) in Table 1

2) Paper II – Economic & Social Issues and Agriculture & Rural Development

Economic & Social Issues: Nature of Indian Economy – Structural and Institutional features -Economic underdevelopment – Opening up the Indian Economy – Globalisation – Economic Reforms in India – Privatisation. Inflation – Trends in Inflation & their Impact on National Economy and Individual Income. Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India – Rural and Urban – Measurement of Poverty – Poverty Alleviation Programmes of the Government. Population Trends – Population Growth and Economic Development – Population Policy in India. Agriculture – Characteristics / Status – Technical and Institutional changes in Indian Agriculture – Agricultural performance – Issues in Food Security in India – Non Institutional and Institutional Agencies in rural credit. Industry – Industrial and Labour Policy – Industrial performance – Regional Imbalance in India’s Industrial Development – Public Sector Enterprises. Rural banking and financial institutions in India – Reforms in Banking/Financial sector. Globalisation of Economy – Role of International Funding Institutions – IMF & World Bank – WTO – Regional Economic Co-operation. Social Structure in India – Multiculturalism – Demographic trends – Urbanisation and Migration – Gender Issues Joint family system – Social Infrastructure – Education – Health and Environment. Education – Status & System of Education – Socio -Economic Problems associated with Illiteracy – Educational relevance and educational wastage – Educational Policy for India. Social Justice: Problems of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes – socio-economic programmes for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other backward classes. Positive Discrimination in favour of the under privileged – Social Movements – Indian Political Systems – Human Development. Current Economic & Social Issues.

Agriculture & Rural Development:

Agriculture: definition, meaning and its branches, Agronomy: definition, meaning and scope of agronomy. Classification of field crops. Factors affecting crop production, Agro Climatic Zones; Cropping Systems: Definition and types of cropping systems. Problems of dry land agriculture; Seed production, seed processing, seed village; Meteorology: weather parameters, crop-weather advisory; Precision Farming, System of Crop Intensification, organic farming;

1. Soil and Water Conservation: Major soil types, soil fertility, fertilisers, soil erosion, soil conservation, watershed management;
2. Water Resource: Irrigation Management: types of irrigation, sources of irrigation, crop-water requirement, command area development, water conservation techniques, micro-irrigation, irrigation pumps, major, medium and minor irrigation.
3. Farm and Agri Engineering: Farm Machinery and Power, Sources of power on the farm- human, animal, mechanical, electrical, wind, solar and biomass, bio fuels, water harvesting structures, farm ponds, watershed management, Agro Processing, Controlled and modified storage, perishable food storage, godowns, bins and grain silos.
4. Plantation & Horticulture: Definition, meaning and its branches. Agronomic practices and production technology of various plantation and horticulture crops. Post-harvest management, value and supply chain management of Plantation and Horticulture crops.
5. Animal Husbandry: Farm animals and their role in Indian economy, Animal husbandry methods in India, common terms pertaining to different species of livestock, Utility classification of breeds of cattle. Introduction to common feeds and fodders, their classification and utility.

 

Introduction to poultry industry in India (past, present and future status), Common terms pertaining to poultry production and management. Concept of mixed farming and its relevance to socio-economic conditions of farmers in India. Complimentary and obligatory nature of livestock and poultry production with that of agricultural farming.

 

1. Fisheries: Fisheries resources, management and exploitation – freshwater, brackish water and marine; Aquaculture- Inland and marine; biotechnology; post-harvest technology. Importance of fisheries in India. Common terms pertaining to fish production.
2. Forestry: Basic concepts of Forest and Forestry. Principles of silviculture, forest mensuration, forest management and forest economics. Concepts of social forestry, agroforestry, joint forest management. Forest policy and legislation in India, India State of Forest Report 2021. Recent developments under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
3. Agriculture Extensions: Its importance and role, methods of evaluation of extension programmes, Role of Krishi Vigyan Kendra’s (KVK) in dissemination of Agricultural technologies.
4. Ecology and Climate Change: Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation. Causes of climate change, Green House Gases (GHG), major GHG emitting countries, climate analysis, distinguish between adaptation and mitigation, climate change impact to agriculture and rural livelihood, carbon credit, IPCC, UNFCCC, CoP meetings, funding mechanisms for climate change projects, initiatives by Govt of India, NAPCC, SAPCC, INDC.
5. Present Scenario of Indian Agriculture and Allied activities; recent trends, major challenges in agriculture measures to enhance viability of agriculture. Factors of Production in agriculture; Agricultural Finance and Marketing; Impact of Globalization on Indian Agriculture and issues of Food Security; Concept and Types of Farm Management.

 

Rural Development: Concept of Rural Area, Structure of the Indian Rural Economy Importance and role of the rural sector in India- Economic, Social and Demographic Characteristics of the Indian rural economy, causes of Rural Backwardness.

Rural population in India; Occupational structure, Farmers, Agricultural Labourers, Artisans, Handicrafts, Traders, Forest dwellers/tribes and others in rural India- Trends of change in rural population and rural work force; problems and conditions of rural labour; Issues and challenges in Handlooms

Panchayati Raj Institutions – Functions and Working. MGNREGA, NRLM – Aajeevika, Rural Drinking water Programmes, Swachh Bharat, Rural Housing, PURA and other rural development programmes.