NABARD Development Assistant Exam – NABARD stands for National bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. It provides financial aid and credit to others to promote agriculture, small-scale industries, village industries, small cottage industries and handicrafts. Its aim is to promote the economy of rural areas. The bank was established in 1982. Every year NABARD releases vacancies for Development Assistants. In this article, we will discuss how to prepare for NABARD Development Assistant Exam.
Plan for the exam of NABARD Development Assistant
The exam for NABARD Development Assistant takes place in three stages: Preliminary Examination, Mains Examination, and Language proficiency test.
The preliminary examination is of 100 marks and 100 questions are asked in English Language, Numerical Ability, and Reasoning Ability. The division of marks is as follows :
- Test of English Language – 40 questions are asked for 40 marks.
- Test of Numerical Ability – 30 questions are asked for 30 marks.
- Test of Reasoning Ability- 30 questions are asked for 30 marks.
- Total Questions asked – 100
- Total Marks – 100.
- Total Time – 60 minutes
The mains examination is for 200 marks and the division of marks is as follows:
- Test of Reasoning Ability- 30 questions will be asked for 30 marks.
- Quantitative Aptitude – 30 questions will be asked for 30 marks.
- General Awareness regarding Agriculture, Rural Development and Banking – 50 questions will be asked for 50 marks.
- Computer knowledge – 40 questions will be asked for 40 marks.
- Descriptive Test of English Language – In this section Essay, Precise writing, Report writing and Letter writing will ask for 50 marks.
- Total Marks – 200
- Total Time – 90 minutes for the Objective test and 30 minutes for Descriptive Test.
The language proficiency test will be conducted for those who have passed the mains examination and have passed 10th and 12th standard with language as one of the subjects. Those who fail to submit the proof of it will be disqualified.
How to prepare for NABARD Development Assistant Exam
NABARD Development Assistant Exam is like any other bank examination and the candidate has to prepare accordingly.
Preliminary Examination:
The preliminary examination consists of Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning and English Language. The best strategy for preparation is to give an ample number of mocks. As the pattern of questions is the same as any other bank examination so preparing for the preliminary examination is best done by giving mocks. By giving mocks you will have an idea about the difficulty levels of questions being asked. Going through the previous year’s questions is advised as there are chances that the questions will be asked in the same pattern.
The more you practice the more you will score. After giving mocks analyse your mistakes and try to find your weaker section. Work more on your weaker section. Try to work on your speed because sometimes due to mismanagement of time, you will miss the questions. Some resources for the preparation of the preliminary exam are :
- For Quantitative Aptitude – Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams by R S Agarwal
- For Reasoning Ability- How to Crack Test of Reasoning Ability by Arihant publication, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S Agarwal, Analytical Reasoning by M.K Pandey.
- For the English Language – Norwan Lewis Word Power Made Easy, English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin, SP Bakshi’s General English.
Giving sectional tests along with the full mock tests is also helpful. There are many YouTube channels also from where you can take help. It is to be noted that there is a negative marking of 1/4th mark.
Mains Examination:
After clearing the preliminary examination candidates have to sit for the main examination. The mains examination is of 200 marks and is divided into 5 sections – Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, General Awareness with special reference to ARD, Computer Knowledge and Descriptive Test of English Language. Books which you can follow for each section are-
- For Quantitative Aptitude – Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams by R S Agarwal and How to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Arun Sharma.
- For Reasoning Ability- How to Crack Test of Reasoning Ability by Arihant publication, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S Agarwal, Analytical Reasoning by M.K Pandey.
- For General Awareness with particular reference to Agriculture, Rural Development and Banking- For this portion, you have to prepare a scheme for rural development and housing scheme released by the government. For agriculture, you should prepare topics like types of soils, distribution, animal census, and reports published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, Ministry of Rural Development and NABARD itself. Focus on the agriculture part of Kurukshetra and Yojana magazine, the primary portion can be covered by R.K. Sharma’s book – ‘Agriculture at a Glance’, which PIB releases with particular attention to agriculture and current affairs. Many sites have paid courses where they have already prepared notes for the subject you can go for that option if you want to save time and effort.
- For Computer Knowledge, you can prepare the section by giving mocks and previous year questions.
- Descriptive Test of English Language – Go through the previous year’s questions and practice more and more by giving mocks. Speed is essential with accuracy here. Go through the formats of letter and report writing.
Give ample numbers of mocks and analyse them find your weaker sections and work on them. Go through the previous year’s questions and practice them so that you will have an idea of how to approach the paper and its difficulty level of it.
Preparation Tips
- Do start your preparation without going through the syllabus. Go through the syllabus first and plan according to it.
- Try to give some mock papers for the preliminary examination and find out your weaker section. Start working on those first.
- Give as many mocks as you can. Go through the previous year’s questions and try to solve them.
- For Agriculture, Rural Development and Banking prepare the scheme of government concerning the agriculture sector and rural areas and reports published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, Ministry of Rural Development and NABARD itself.
- A descriptive Test of the English Language can be prepared by writing practice only—practice as many essays and letters as you can.
Also, read NABARD Development Assistant Result 2022 OUT; Check the link here
It is a clerical job so the development assistant will be placed in any state capital where the regional office will be.
Yes, there is a sectional cutoff in NABARD Development Assistant Exam.
The monthly gross of the NABARD Development Assistant is INR 32,000 with basic pay of INR 13,150.
Yes, the exam for NABARD Development Assistant Exam is conducted annually.
