News : Women will not have to pay fee while applying for central government jobs

Women candidates appearing for competitive exams conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Staff Selection Commission
(SSC) will not have to pay fee while applying for central government jobs.

As part of its efforts to increase representation of women in central government jobs, the government has decided "to exempt women candidates from payment of fees" and asked recruiting agencies -- UPSC and SSC -- to make this clear in all advertisements to be released for this purpose.

The decision, notified by the ministry of personnel on July 15, came a week after the government made it mandatory for recruitment panels to keep at least one woman member in the Board so that these agencies could "strive to have a workforce which reflects gender balance" in the central government jobs.

The ministry of personnel on July 8 had issued guidelines, asking all central government departments and recruitment bodies to ensure better representation of women members on various Committees\Boards concerned with appointments to various posts.

"The idea is to increase the number of women in central government jobs from existing 7.52% to at least 15%-20% of total strength of workforce in the next couple of years. It is believed that the presence of women members in various selection committees will ensure sensitivity towards finding more and more women for government jobs commensurate with their educational qualification," said a senior ministry official.

At present, women constitute just 7.52% of the central government workforce, of which 24% are in All India Civil Services. The rest of them are placed either at Group C or Group D level -- lower categories in the hierarchy.

Besides issuing guidelines comprising four broad points, the ministry of personnel has also asked government departments to submit a consolidated report -- including group-wise and gender-wise data as on March 31 this year -- latest by August 31.

Courtesy:- Times of India