NABARD Grade A

NABARD Grade A is the recruitment exam for Assistant Manager posts in the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. It is conducted to select officers for rural development banking and related functions.

The recruitment typically covers the following streams:

• RDBS: Rural Development Banking Service
• Legal
• P&SS: Protocol & Security Service

Who should apply

This exam is suitable for candidates who:

• Want a career in agriculture and rural finance
• Hold a relevant graduation or professional qualification
• Are interested in policy, banking, development, and field-oriented administrative work

Career growth path

A selected candidate can grow through the following hierarchy:

Assistant Manager → Manager → DDM → GM

Current cycle

For the latest recruitment cycle, refer only to the official NABARD website and careers page.

Historical exam timeline

Result timeline

Verify every date and deadline only on https://nabard.org" class="inlink">nabard.org.

Educational qualification

Candidates must have a graduation degree in the relevant discipline for the applied stream, such as:

• Agriculture / allied disciplines
• Finance
• Law
• Other specified relevant streams

For general category candidates, the usual minimum is 60% marks in graduation.

Age limit

• Minimum age: 21 years
• Maximum age: 30 years

Age relaxation

Nationality

• Candidate must be an Indian citizen

Reservation-related notes

• Reservation follows Government of India policy
• Category benefits are applicable as per the official notification
• Horizontal reservation may apply for PwBD and Ex-servicemen candidates

NABARD Grade A follows the Government reservation framework.

Horizontal reservation can apply to:

• PwBD candidates
• Ex-servicemen

Year-wise vacancies

Trend summary

• Vacancies have varied across cycles based on NABARD’s staffing requirements.
• The exam typically offers opportunities across multiple streams.
• Competition remains high because of limited seats and strong career prospects.

Selection flow

1. Phase I (Prelims)

2. Phase II (Mains)

3. Interview

Phase I

Phase II

Pattern notes

• Phase I acts as the screening stage
• Phase II is more decisive for selection
• Final selection includes performance in the interview stage

Step 1: Phase I

Objective screening test covering core reasoning, numerical, language, general awareness, and agriculture-related topics.

Step 2: Phase II

Descriptive and discipline-focused evaluation through Paper I and Paper II.

Step 3: Interview

Candidates shortlisted from the mains stage are called for interview.

Final merit

Final selection is prepared using the prescribed weightage across mains and interview as per the notification.

Phase I syllabus

• General Awareness / GK
• Current affairs
• Banking and financial awareness
• Agriculture and rural development updates
• Quantitative Aptitude
• Arithmetic
• Data interpretation
• Simplification
• Number series
• Reasoning Ability
• Puzzles
• Seating arrangement
• Syllogism
• Coding-decoding
• English Language
• Reading comprehension
• Error spotting
• Cloze test
• Grammar and vocabulary
• Agriculture and Rural Development
• Basics of agriculture
• Rural development schemes
• Agricultural economics
• Rural institutions

Phase II Paper I syllabus

• Economic and Social Issues
• Finance and Management
• Current events relevant to banking and development
• Analytical and descriptive questions
• General awareness with an applied policy angle

Phase II Paper II syllabus

Discipline-specific areas

Depends on the stream selected at the time of application:

• Agriculture
• Finance
• Law
• Other notified relevant disciplines

Topic-wise preparation focus

• Core concepts from graduation discipline
• Applied questions
• Case-based and situation-based understanding
• Stream-specific regulatory and practical knowledge

Online application process

1. Visit https://nabard.org" class="inlink">nabard.org

2. Open the Careers section

3. Read the official notification carefully

4. Register with basic details

5. Fill in the application form

6. Upload required documents

7. Pay the application fee

8. Submit the form

9. Download and save the confirmation page

Documents required

• Recent passport-size photograph
• Signature
• Left thumb impression, if asked
• Handwritten declaration, if asked
• Educational certificates
• Caste / category certificate, if applicable
• PwBD certificate, if applicable
• ID proof

Common mistakes to avoid

• Uploading blurred or incorrect documents
• Missing the eligibility conditions for the chosen stream
• Entering incorrect personal details
• Waiting until the last date to pay the fee
• Not saving the final submitted application

Pay scale

• Pay: ₹44,500–₹1,50,000
• Gross salary: around ₹80,000+ with allowances

Allowances

The in-hand package generally includes standard allowances applicable to a Grade A officer, as per rules and posting location.

Career growth

Assistant Manager → Manager → DDM → GM

Job profile

A NABARD Grade A officer may work on:

• Rural development banking
• Agricultural credit and policy support
• Project monitoring
• Field-level developmental coordination
• Scheme implementation and reporting

Posting nature

Postings may involve a mix of:

• Office-based responsibilities
• Regional/developmental assignments
• Field visits
• Coordination with banks, departments, and institutions

Phase I cutoff

Cutoff note

Cutoffs vary by:

• Vacancy count
• Difficulty level
• Category
• Stream
• Stage of the exam

Study plan options

3-month plan

• Focus on basics and high-yield topics
• Daily current affairs and mock practice
• Weekly revision of agriculture and rural development

4-month plan

• Build concept clarity in all sections
• Add full-length mocks after the first month
• Strengthen Paper II discipline topics

6-month plan

• Start with fundamentals
• Move to advanced topic coverage
• Use repeated revision cycles and test analysis

Subject-wise tips

Agriculture and rural development

• Read NABARD reports and government rural schemes
• Focus on agronomy basics, allied sectors, and policy initiatives

ESI and FM

• Prepare core economic concepts, banking basics, and management principles
• Use current affairs to connect theory with real-world issues

Reasoning and quant

• Practice daily
• Emphasize puzzles, DI, arithmetic, and speed

English

• Read editorials
• Improve comprehension and grammar accuracy

Books and official resources

• NABARD official website and reports
• Government economic and agriculture publications
• Current affairs from reliable banking and agricultural sources
• Standard reasoning, quantitative aptitude, and English practice material

Revision and mock strategy

• Revise daily formulas and concepts
• Take timed sectional tests
• Use mock analysis to correct weak areas
• Maintain a notebook for current affairs and stream-specific facts

After joining as an Assistant Manager, officers can move through structured promotions based on performance, service conditions, and departmental requirements.

• Assistant Manager
• Manager
• DDM
• General Manager

• https://nabard.org" class="inlink">Official website
• https://nabard.org" class="inlink">Careers page
• https://nabard.org" class="inlink">Latest notification
• https://nabard.org" class="inlink">Apply portal