Editor,
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is conducted annually and is renowned as one of the most prestigious competitive exams for graduate engineers in India.
GATE is a computer-based national examination on the comprehensive understanding of the candidates in various undergraduate subjects in engineering, technology, architecture and postgraduate level subjects in arts, commerce and science. It is conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and seven IITs in Roorkee, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Chennai and Mumbai on behalf of the National Coordination Board (NCB)-GATE, department of higher education, ministry of education, government of India.
It is pertinent to mention that various PSUs, like IOCL, NHPC Ltd, NHAI, Power Grid, DRDO, NTPC Ltd, BIS, SAIL, ONGC Ltd, BSNL, RITES and many other renowned organisations are recruiting every year hundreds of engineers based on their GATE score. Recruiting through GATE has a lot of advantages which are listed below.
1) It is conducted by the top engineering institutes of the country, so there is no question of incompetence.
2) It is organised on a rotation basis by the institutes mentioned above. Each year, the organising institute changes. On top of that, the organising institutes are the most prestigious institutes in the country, well-versed with latest technologies. The best minds in the country are involved in making it a secure exam, free from all sorts of modern-day cheating practices.
3) Being a national exam and constantly being under the scanner of the national media, the question of corruption and unethical practice seems unthinkable.
4) It is generally conducted every year during the month of January and February, and the date of exam and declaration of results are notified at least 4-5 months prior. The time schedule generally remains similar every year, which provides candidates with better preparation strategy and planning.
5) GATE exam is conducted for every engineering branches, viz, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, computer engineering, etc, to name a few.
6) In GATE exam, no electronic instrument, including scientific calculator, is allowed inside the exam hall. The scientific calculator is inbuilt in Page 1 of 3 computer programme. The APPSC and the APSSB generally allow non-programmable calculators which can be tampered with easily in today’s world.
7) The syllabus and pattern are published every year, months ahead of the exam. The syllabus and pattern remain more or less the same every year. On top of that, previous years’ question papers and answer keys are available on their website for the candidates to practice.
8) The exam is conducted in various cities throughout the country, including Itanagar. Hence, candidates from the state preparing for various exams in coaching institutes in other parts of the country need not travel back home for appearing for the exam in Itanagar as they have the option to appear for the exam in the nearest exam centre from their respective locations.
9) The standard and pattern of GATE is well-refined and is designed to pick the best among the applicants. Preparing for this exam will definitely improve the candidate’s chances of cracking other exams too.
10) It relieves APPSC/APSSB for sorting of various institutes every now and then for preparation of question papers and checking of answer sheets as the organisation does not have enough qualified employees to do so.
11) The APPSC/APSSB needs to conduct only the viva voce, which generally is easier to conduct and requires lesser manpower from outside the commissions/board and it should be allotted only minimal marks.
12) If adopted, preparation for state government job (engi-neering) will lead to more candidates qualifying GATE. If at all these candidates do not secure a job, they will still have options to join other PSUs. They will also qualify to apply for MTech programme in top engineering institutes in India, which also provide a scholarship of Rs 12,400 per month to GATE qualified students.
Further, if the candidate is already an MTech qualified, they can apply for PhD in top institute of the country, which also provides stipend upto Rs 30,000, depending upon the institute.
It should also be mentioned that the GATE score is also recognised in institutes from other countries like Germany and Singapore to name a couple.
13) Adoption of GATE score-based recruitment will surely lead to more numbers of highly qualified students from the state and definitely lead to more job opportunities for them.
14) The quality of engineers recruited will also be much improved.
15) The APPSC and APSSB have many histories of coming under the scanner of public and media for all sorts of wrongful reasons. This can be avoided in the near future at least in the recruitment of engineers.
16) Even if the candidate does not qualify the cut-off mark set by the GATE for the year, they are able to see their mark sheets as well as answer sheets and self-introspect on their performance.
17) Since the GATE score is based on how other candidates performs, it will definitely raise the bar of competition among them as candidates will have to compete with candidates from all over the country to get a good score.
18) Since even the ones who do not cross the cut-off are provided their score, the commission/board if desired may recruit even those scoring below cut-off if there are vacancies still remaining.
The GATE score is valid for three years. However, only the GATE score for the year in which the recruitment is done should be considered for preparing the merit list. Considering GATE score from previous years may not create a fair competition for all candidates.
The charges for sharing the GATE 2020 score for candidates was Rs 15 lakhs plus 18 percent GST as on July 2021 per paper (civil engineering paper, mechanical engineering paper, electrical engineering paper, etc) which was conducted by IFF Delhi.
It is observed that the current pattern and procedure for recruitment draws a lot of doubts and question from the public as well as media, even though the commission or board may be adopting the most sincere and fair method. The GATE being a very prestigious exam has never been under such circumstances. People have faith in its organising institutes.
Hence, I request you to kindly consider the proposition and work out the possibilities of adopting this procedure for recruitment of engineers based on GATE score, so that best engineers from the state are recruited while more job opportunities are created. In doing so, the government of Arunachal Pradesh is ultimately benefitted. Lastly, modern world requires modern process of recruitment which is safe, reliable and efficient. GATE is the future and it shall definitely revolutionise the recruitment procedure.
A concerned citizen