NABARD Recruitment Exam Syllabus and Pattern

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NABARD, functioning under the Government of India, has a great vision for promoting Rural Prosperity. It generally conducts recruitment exams for various posts. Many candidates apply for this lucrative job every year and thus there is a very tough competition too. In this article, we are discussing the NABARD Exam Syllabus and Pattern. So that the aspirants can start the preparation soon.

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NABARD Exam Syllabus and Pattern

NABARD Exam Pattern

Usually, the recruitment exams conducted by the NABARD is having three phases:

Phase I – Preliminary Examination (Online Exam)
Phase-II – Main Examination (Online and will be a mix of MCQ and descriptive patterns)
Phase III – Interview

Exam Pattern: Assistant Manager Grade A and B

Phase I – Preliminary Examination
The Preliminary Examination is only qualifying in nature and is meant to serve as a screening test. The exam will be Objective Type with Multiple Choice Questions for both Grade A and B carrying 200 marks.
Duration: 120 Minutes. There is negative marks-1/4th of the assigned marks will be deducted.

Test of Reasoning – 20 marks
English Language – 40 marks
Computer Knowledge –20 marks
General Awareness – 20 marks
Quantitative Aptitude – 20 marks
Economic & Social Issues (with focus on Rural India) – 40 marks
Agriculture & Rural Development (with focus on Rural India) – 40 marks

Practice daily quizzes to enhance your preparations.

Phase II – Main Examination

Paper-I – General English: (Descriptive – online through the keyboard). Duration: 1 ½ hrs – 100 Marks
Paper-II (MCQ): Duration: 1 ½ hrs. – 100 Marks
For General discipline Paper-II- Economic & Social Issues and Agriculture & Rural Development (with focus on Rural India).
And for all other disciplines like Animal Husbandry / Dairy Technology, Economics & Agricultural Economics, Environment, Food Processing, Forestry, Finance, Land Development – Soil Science, Plantation, and Horticulture, Paper-II will be related to the respective subjects.
For Grade B posts, Paper-II (MCQ) Economic and Social Issues and Agriculture and Rural Development (with a focus on Rural India) for General Posts. Duration: 1 ½ hour for 100 Mark
And Paper-III (MCQ) Analytical Paper on Development Economics, Statistics, Finance & Management, with a duration of 1.5 hours and 100 Mark.

Check the Sample questions for Phase II.

Phase III – Interview

For candidates qualifying in the Phase-II.
Marks for Interview: 25 Marks (Grade A).
Marks for Interview: 40 Marks (Grade B).

Exam Pattern: Development Assistant

Preliminary Examination

English Language – 40
Numerical Ability – 30
Reasoning – 30
Composite time – 60 minutes
Maximum Marks – 100

Practice daily mock tests to improve General Awareness.

Main Examination

Composite time of 90 minutes for Objective Tests and 30 minutes for the Descriptive Test.
Total Marks – 200
Reasoning – 30
Quantitative Aptitude – 30
General Awareness (with special reference to agriculture, rural development, and banking) -50
Computer Knowledge 40
Test of English Language (Descriptive)- Essay, Precis writing, Report / Letter Writing-50
Development Assistant (Hindi), will be having a test in Professional Knowledge (Hindi) instead of Quantitative Aptitude.

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NABARD Exam Syllabus

There is no prescribed syllabus for Phase I. The basic topics under each subject can be expected and also, includes the relevant topics matching from the detailed Mains, Phase II syllabus.

Detailed Mains Syllabus

Paper I – English: Essay, Précis writing, Comprehension and Business/Office Correspondence.

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
Globalization
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

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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
Globalization 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

Read the latest General Awareness topics to ace your preparations.

Social Justice: Problems of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes – socio-economic programs for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other backward classes
Positive Discrimination in favor of the underprivileged
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 dryland agriculture
Seed production, seed processing, seed village
Meteorology: weather parameters, crop-weather advisory
Precision Farming, System of Crop Intensification, organic farming

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Rural Development

Concept of Rural Area, Structure of the Indian Rural EconomyImportance 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 workforce; problems and conditions of rural labor
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 programs.

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Paper – III

Development Economics: Measures of development, Economic Development Models, the role of subsidies, the importance of savings and investment.
Importance of agriculture, Terms of trade in agriculture
Development issues in India – Post-2015 Agenda.
Statistics: Basic statistical concepts, Summarizing of data, Frequency distribution, Measures of Central Tendency, Relative dispersion, Elementary Probability, Relative Frequency Approach, sampling, Axiomatic Approach, Analysis of frequency distribution, Correlation, Regression, Sampling Methods, Time Series Analysis.
Finance: Financial system in India; Regulation of Banks & Financial Institutions
Banking and Financial Institutions in India
Financial system- features, characteristics, and issues
Microfinance, its significance, and importance
Union Budget
Project finance- Assessment and Sources for block capital, working capital
Infrastructure financing- Risk Management in Banking Sector
Sources of capital, instruments, and methods, salient features
Development finance- scope and needs of development finance
Concept of project cycle management
Private and Social Cost-Benefit
Significance of development finance
Financial Inclusion – Use of Technology, Public-Private Partnership
Management: its nature and scope
The Management Processes; Planning, Organisation, Staffing, Directing and Controlling
The Role of a Manager in an Organisation.
Leadership: The Tasks of a Leader, Leadership Styles
Leadership Theories- A successful Leader versus an effective Leader.
Human Resource Development: Concept of HRD; Goals of HRD
Performance Appraisal – Potential appraisal and development
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.

So, this is all about the NABARD Exam Syllabus and Pattern for upcoming exams. Start your preparation for this job which is an equally prestigious and tension free job.

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