NABARD Guide Book Updated
NABARD Guide Book Updated
NABARD Guide Book Updated
Table of of
C O N T E N T S
C O N T E N T S
About NABARD
• What is NABARD?
• Brief History of NABARD
• Functions of NABARD
• Hierarchy in NABARD
• Advantages of working with NABARD
Also, we will try to update any new information notified about the examination in the
guidebook within 2-3 working days.
• What is NABARD?
• Functions of NABARD
• Hierarchy in NABARD
About NABARD
What is NABARD?
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) is an apex regulatory body for the overall
regulation of regional rural banks or RRBs and apex
cooperative banks in India. It is under the authority of
the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
Functions of NABARD
The strength of NABARD is in its mandate, i.e., "The development bank of the nation for fostering
Rural Prosperity". It is the only development bank in the nation that aims at rural prosperity. The
3 major roles of NABARD to facilitate rural prosperity are as below:
• Financial:
Financial function of NABARD includes direct financing to various institutions such as state
governments & District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) through various schemes or
projects and second is indirect financing (means refinance) to the Banks, including all the
commercial banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), and Cooperative Banks, for the farm sector
loans for the production purposes at concessional rate of interest.
• Developmental:
NABARD’s developmental role includes- development of several banks like State Cooperative
Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Regional Rural Banks, etc., providing support to Self
Help Groups & the Farmers Producers Organizations, financing state governments for rural
infrastructure, e.t.c. It has several funds as a developmental initiative e.g.
◦ Watershed Development Fund, for which NABARD grants loans to the state government
and NGOs to develop watersheds, an area of land that drains water into a specific
waterbody.
◦ Tribal Development Fund, as the name suggests, is a scheme related to the development
of tribes.
◦ Climate Change Fund, for which NABARD is a national implementing authority, is
responsible for the adaptation fund implementation. This initiative aims at fostering
sustainable development and contributing meaningfully towards national priorities.
• Supervisory:
NABARD is authorized to conduct inspection of State Cooperative Banks (StCBs), District
Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). In addition, NABARD
has also been conducting periodic inspections of state level cooperative institutions such as
State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (SCARDBs), Apex Weavers
Societies, Marketing Federations etc., on a voluntary basis. It also suggests ways and means
for strengthening the institutions so as to enable them to play a more efficient role in
purveying rural credit.
Hierarchy in NABARD
• After every 2-3 years, you will get posted to different departments, so the work is never
monotonous.
• In Commercial Banks, the primary role is financing. But the financial role of NABARD is
different as it does not have public dealings and is involved in refinancing or indirect financing
to governments, NGOs etc,. Even if NABARD is financing, it is limited to the institutions and
not individuals.
• Developmental and supervisory roles are something that are exclusive to NABARD.
About NABARD
Assistant
Manager
• How is the recruitment conducted?
• What is the pattern of the examination?
• What is the eligibility?
• How has the NABARD Grade A pattern
evolved?
• Cut-offs so far
• Is the recruitment regular?
• What is the syllabus of the examination?
• What is the training at NABARD like?
• What is the job profile?
• What is the salary?
• What are the promotion opportunities?
About NABARD Assistant Manager | 06
• The Phase 1 examination or the preliminary examination is a single paper comprising 200
Questions and 200 Marks.
• The overall duration of this paper is 120 minutes i.e. 2 hours. Please note that there is no
sectional timing.
• For every wrong answer marked, 1/4th of the marks assigned to that question are deducted
as a penalty.
Quantitative Aptitude 20 20
Decision Making 10 10
In Paper-II, 6 descriptive questions are asked out of which only 4 are supposed to be answered
(2 Questions of 15 marks and 2 questions of 10 marks each)
◦ 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 changed at the discretion of the bank.
◦ There will be a penalty of 1/4th marks for every wrong answer marked in Phase-I and
Phase-II (objective part), 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
• Interview stage -
The Phase-III of the NABARD Grade A examination consists of an Interview.
◦ Candidates are shortlisted for interview based on their Phase 2 marks only.
◦ Interview carries a weightage of 50 marks.
◦ Candidates can opt for interview either in Hindi or English.
The final selection of candidates is done by adding marks secured in Phase 2 and Interview.
Age:
• Minimum age limit 21 Years Age Relaxation
• Maximum age limit 30 Years
(As of the 1st of the month of the
notification year)
3 5 10 13 15
years years years for years years
Educational Qualification (General Stream): for for Person for for
OBC SC/ST with PwBD PwBD
Bachelor’s Degree in any subject from a Benchm (OBC) (SC/ST)
recognized University with a minimum of ark
60% marks (SC/ST/PWBD applicants – 55%) Disability
in aggregate OR Post Graduate degree, [PwBD
MBA/PGDM with a minimum of 55% marks (UR)]
(SC/ST/PWBD applicants – 50%) in aggregate
OR CA/ CS/ICWA OR Ph.D from Institutions
recognized by GOI/UGC
The Phase 1 still is a single paper of 200 marks but now they have added one more subject,
Decision Making (10 marks) and reduced the weightage of English from 40 marks to 30 marks.
Also, it is now divided into merit & non merit sections, wherein ESI, ARD & GA constitute to merit
section and rest of them are qualifying in nature and the cut-off for Phase 1 is calculated out of
100 marks only.
Descriptive English has no changes, but paper 2 is now 50% objective & 50% descriptive.
Lastly, interview prior to 2021 had the weightage of 25 marks but now holds the weightage of
50 marks.
Cut-o s so far-
• NABARD Grade A 2021 Cut offs –
◦ Prelims -
◦ Sectional Cut-Off
◦ Mains -
▪ Overall Cut-Off
▪ Sectional Cut-Off
▪ Overall Cut-Off
◦ Sectional Cut-Off
◦ Mains -
▪ Overall Cut-Off
▪ Sectional Cut-Off
▪ Overall Cut-Off
▪ Sectional Cut-Off
◦ Mains -
▪ Overall Cut-Off
▪ Sectional Cut-Off
• English:
◦ Questions on Reading Comprehension ◦ Double fillers
◦ Sentence Rearrangement ◦ Error Detection and Sentence
◦ Cloze Test Improvement
◦ Parajumbles
◦ Vocabulary (Synonyms, Antonyms,
One-word Substitution, Phrasal verbs)
• General Awareness(GA): Based on past year exam analysis of NABARD Grade A, following
topics are most frequently asked from General Awareness section:
◦ Inflation - Trends in Inflation & their Impact on National Economy and Individual Income.
◦ 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.
◦ Education - Status & System of Education - Socio -Economic Problems associated with
Illiteracy - Educational relevance and educational wastage - Educational Policy for India.
◦ Social Movements.
◦ Human Development.
◦ Classification of field crops. Factors affecting crop production, Agro Climatic Zones.
◦ Cropping Systems: Definition and types of cropping systems. Problems of dry land
agriculture.
◦ Soil and Water Conservation : Major soil types, soil fertility, fertilisers, soil erosion, soil
conservation, watershed management.
◦ 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.
◦ 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.
◦ 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. Complementary and obligatory nature of livestock and poultry production with
that of agricultural farming.
◦ 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.
◦ 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.
• Phase 2 Syllabus:
As per the 2021 NABARD Grade A notification, the syllabus for all subjects is indicative and
not exhaustive.Candidates should also prepare themselves for answering questions that may
be asked on the current/latest developments/Acts taking place under the subject(s) although
those topics may not have been specifically included in the syllabus.
▪ Paper-II - Economic and Social Issues (ESI) and Agriculture and Rural Development
(ARD): The syllabus of Paper II is same as the syllabus of ESI & ARD in Phase 1
• What are the training establishments and where are they located?
The Bank has three training establishments at Kolkata, Lucknow and Mangalore serving the
needs of both NABARD staff as well as staff of other banks, NGOs and Government officials.
These training establishments of NABARD are named as Bankers Institute of Rural
Development (BIRD).
As a Grade A officer, you are the first person, facing the client, whether it is a Bank, NGO or State
Government. So, you are expected-
◦ To interact with the client at the ground level (for which you will be trained well on a prior
basis).
◦ To do the preliminary scrutiny of any application for a loan or a grant that comes to
NABARD from these institutions.
◦ If any agency approaches NABARD for any assistance, then the job is to assess their
proposal to do some kind of due diligence. Not just that, you are also given the
responsibility to present that proposal before the senior management, whether it's in the
Head Office or in the Regional Office.
In spite of being the junior most officer, the work profile of Grade A officer is very enriching,
because you are able to contribute to the vision of the NABARD from day 1 and you gain
experience from day 1.
NABARD is a very lean organization. It is an officer oriented organization that has around 3000
staff working all over India. When it comes to work culture, NABARD is known for its
transparency, integrity and honesty which is why everyone wants to work with NABARD,
whether it is an international partner, government or the state governments. Work-life is really
balanced at NABARD because, one gets sufficient leave in a year, it is a 5 days a week office and
there are enough sports and gym facilities in the office and in the staff quarters. The staff
quarters are available everywhere in the country where NABARD offices are situated.
NABARD invests a lot in its staff so there is a lot of coaching and mentoring that happens all the
time. All in all, work culture is very open at NABARD, as much as, you are an Assistant Manager
but you are free to directly present your case to the CGM itself. Hence, the relationship with the
staff and the top management is always very cordial.
Grade F - Chief After 3 years as Based on Interview CGM is the head of state
General Manager GM or Regional office
(CGM)
Grade D - Deputy After 4+ years as Internal written test DGM is the head of 3-4
General Manager AGM (You get a followed by interview. sections
(DGM) driver once you (From here, promotions
are posted as are dependent on no. of
DGM) vacancies)
Grade C - Assistant After 4 to 6 years Based on Interview AGM is the head of the
General Manager as Manager section or a department
(AGM)
Grade A - Assistant Entry Level Direct recruitment You are the first person,
Manager through a 3 stage exam facing the external client,
whether it is a Bank, NGO
or State Government
Apart from the hierarchy above, there is one more post named, District Development Manager
(DDM). You might be eligible to become a DDM after serving as a manager. The DDM is the top
most officer of a district and is liable to a Residence-cum-office in that district. The role of a
DDM is to coordinate with different other bodies like banks, Deputy commissioners, municipal
corporation, municipal councils, etc. for credit planning, monitoring and coordination and
evolving a coordinated approach for credit deployment in the respective district. This post is
considered to be a golden post in NABARD.
• Schemes related to agriculture and allied sectors, Rural India development and allied
sectors of rural India.
• Latest Reports like NAFIS survey, Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index
etc. are important and are easily available on their respective websites.
• Annual Report of - NABARD, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and Ministry of
Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare (MoAFW). However, the annual report of only NABARD is
more important and that of MoRD & MoAFW is not that important.
But you need to understand that if you are reading from these websites, you have to have your
own notes so as to make revision easy when the exam is close. Else, you may refer to some good
compilation that covers all these sources in one place
Since it is a hard earned stage, one cannot lose the rhythm here, the consistency that was
maintained till Phase 2 should remain till the interview stage as well. So, let us see what all is
required for this stage -
• First of all, How is the interview conducted? Interview is conducted in the Regional offices
of NABARD for which you are supposed to send an email to NABARD with your Roll no.,
Name, Disciple and Choice of Centre. If you do not send this email, by default your interview
centre would be the same as your mains examination centre.
• Now, What to do at this stage? First is, Prepare Your Best because a few things you cannot
control such as, mood of the examiner but preparation can be well in your control. Interview
is basically the personality test and knowledge here is secondary because knowledge has
already been tested in the previous 2 stages. These are the 4 Pillars for being interview
ready -
You need to be crystal clear about yourself because if you are not aware of the functions of
NABARD, it can be acceptable, but if you are not confident about your educational background,
your work experience, etc., that creates a really bad impression.
• About NABARD - It is very important to know about the organization you are going to work
with, so you need to cover these things from the NABARD website-
◦ Working & functions of NABARD
◦ NABARD Annual Report (Latest) - Specifically if anything related to your state is
mentioned, needs to be covered.
◦ State Focus Paper by NABARD - There is a paper on NABARD website for every state, you
just need to read the paper related to your state and a neighbouring state.
◦ Important initiatives and projects by NABARD.
◦ Also, when you are done with about yourself and NABARD, you also should be able to link
how your expertise can be beneficial in NABARD, for eg. you have done B.Tech, so how
your qualification can help, to which you may answer that your technical knowledge can
help in further advancements in the organization or something of that sort. Basically you
need to be thorough with your DAF and NABARD functions & working.
• Current Issues
◦ Latest Union Budget & Economic Survey - specially the agri budget data
◦ Current Issues related to Agriculture & Rural Developments - You can cover them from
magazines like Kurukshetra, Krishi Jagran or through newspapers.
◦ Developments in the Economic Sector - Newspapers are the best source to cover them.
◦ Day to day events going on.
• Your Static Syllabus
◦ Brush up ESI and ARD as they may ask about the basic concepts and terms in the
interview however, the chances are less
◦ Central government Schemes and state schemes of your state, related to Agriculture &
Rural Development
Set a
clear goal #1
Always remember that when goals are vague, outcomes are vague. So does it mean that you
must set only 1 and clear goal of clearing the NABARD Grade A examination? You may. Nothing
wrong in it. We, however recommend following a Plan A and Plan B approach. And no, Plan B here
does not mean a backup career option! What it means is that you should design your Plan A and
Plan B exams in such a manner that 1) the preparation of your Plan A exam/s ‘must’ automatically
lead to atleast 80% preparation of Plan B exam/s and 2) when you are devoting time to study for
Plan B exam/s, it must automatically strengthen your preparation for Plan A exam/s.
For example - Let's say your Plan A exam is to crack the NABARD Grade A exam, what should be
your Plan B? The most ideal Plan B will be RBI Grade B exam. How? Because it checks both points
as explained above - preparation of NABARD Grade A automatically leads to preparation of 80%
syllabus of RBI Grade B and when you are devoting time to study anything for RBI Grade B, it is
actually strengthening your preparation for NABARD Grade A as well. Understood? Let's move to
step 2.
Understand
#2 the exam
The syllabus and previous year questions are like the 2 headlights of your car of preparation.
You miss one of these and your car will meet with an accident, let me guarantee you this right
here! The biggest blunder aspirants like you commit is that they do not define the scope of the
syllabus of the examination and prepare under the impression that anything and everything can
be asked in the examination which is even remotely related to the syllabus!
Hell no! This is NOT the case. Download and print a copy of the syllabus and then do the same
for previous year questions (link has been provided above). Go through the syllabus atleast 10
times and then go through the previous year questions (year wise) and see for yourself what are
the important topics and in what depth they need to be studied for the examination. Believe me,
more than 90% of the so-called sincere aspirants do not do this.
Shortlist
Resources #3
Based on step 2 above, now is the time to shortlist your study sources - be it coaching material,
books, websites, magazines, or the like! And remember, once you prepare a list of the resources
that you are going to follow, DO NOT get swayed by new material that keeps flooding the market
through telegram, Facebook, websites, advertisements, etc! Keep your head down and focus on
completing your study sources. Yes, once you are done with your sources, you can move to a
secondary source but not before that!
Design a
#4 Time Table
This is a very important step - you must design a time table for yourself. This time table is for
‘you’ and ‘you’ alone. Do not compare your time table with others, some like studying early in the
morning, some like to burn the midnight oil, some can sit at a stretch for 6 hours, some study for
2 hours and take a break and then study again. Some study on all 7 days, some study for 5 days
and take a 2-day break. Whatever! The point or the goal is to have a time table that ‘works’ for
‘you’. It is not meant to earn shower of praises from your parents, friends or peers!
Develop
Consistency #5
Ah consistency! The ever-elusive thing! The secret to developing consistency is to make ‘micro
easy targets’. How? Let's compare 2 situations. Student A makes a plan that he will study 8 hours
everyday starting tomorrow and sets a goal for himself for the next day - cover 50 pages of
current affairs magazine, 20 pages of motivation theories from a book, 50 questions of ratio and
proportion and write 1 essay. He starts his day full of energy but towards the end of the day finds
himself in quite an uncomfortable position realizing that only 50% of the target has been
covered. He is not able to sleep comfortably that night and gets up the next morning tired and
frustrated. Now he has to complete the pending tasks of Day 1 as well as cover whatever he
decided foe Day 2 as well! Quite an uphill task, don’t you think?
On the other hand, Student B makes a plan that he will also study 8 hours a day and sets a goal
of completing 20 pages of current affairs magazine, 10 pages of motivation theories and 1 essay.
What will happen is that this student will complete his target ahead of schedule and having done
that feel elated, joyful and full of confidence! This will lead to a good night’s sleep and hence
even higher energy for the next day!
Getting my rhythm? This is how you make ‘micro and ‘easy’ targets and achieve them daily and
move ahead with consistency.
Develop
#6 Faith
Always think from your mind and feel from your heart. If you reverse this sentence, you will get
trapped in ‘emotions’. Being emotional isn’t bad at all, it’s good! Getting trapped in emotions is
what is bad! Once you complete step 1-5, you will start to develop faith in yourself. Have a little
trust on your mentors as well, talk to them, mail them, get in touch and see how they can help
you!
After you learn and understand this 6 Step Formula to dominate NABARD Grade A Exam, you can
literally apply it on any examination you are taking or might take in the future!
The above formula will always help you set a clear goal (Plan and B) and plan all your activities
around that one clear goal.
Mr. Albin Sunny Mr. Amol Darade Mr. Deepak Kumar Mr. Gowtham
NABARD Grade A 2021 NABARD Grade A 2021 NABARD Grade A 2021 NABARD Grade A 2021
Mr. Vikram Joshi Mr. Vinayak Langote Ms. Arti Shukla Mr. Nithin
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Mr. Akash Kumar Singh Mr. Amit Godara Mr. Ananta shinde Mr. Aniket Goel
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Mr. Ashish Mishra Mr. Deepak P Houde Mr. Gopal Sarkate Mr. Himanshu Yadav
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Mr. Rinku Meena Mr. Sagar Dhatkar Mr. Siddhant Ahuja Mr. Somjit Bhar
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Mr. Sumit Kumar Ms. Ayisha Nazmin Ms. Dharana Ms. Diksha Mandavi
NABARD Grade A 2021
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Ms. Divya Goswami Ms. Sangeeta Rani Mr. Ankur Bhati Mr. Kalapala Vinod Kumar
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