At present, there are 45 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) functioning in the country having a total staff strength of around 90 thousand employees.

Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts Common Recruitment Process (CRP) for Recruitment of Officers (Scale-I, II & III) and Office Assistant (Multipurpose) in RRBs on an all India basis in English and Hindi medium.

In the present system candidates educated in local languages are at a disadvantage due to the medium of examination.  Various references and representations have also been received suggesting, inter-alia, to conduct the recruitment examination for RRBs in regional languages.

The functioning of RRBs is State specific and rural focused and therefore knowledge of the local language of that state/region would help the candidate in performing his duties effectively.

Thus, with a view to provide a level playing field and to expand employment possibilities for local youths, it has been decided that examination for direct recruitment of Officers (Scale-I) and Office Assistant (Multipurpose) in RRBs will be conducted in 13 regional languages in addition to English and Hindi. These 13 regional languages are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The candidates will, in addition to English and Hindi, also have the option to choose the regional language of the State that they have opted for, from among the above languages, as their medium of examination.

This change shall be implemented from the Mains examination of CRP RRB VIII (2019) onwards.

Medium of examination expanded to include regional languages, allowing candidates to choose state language alongside English and Hindi. The finance ministry announced expansion of the medium of examination for direct recruitment to Officers (Scale I) and Office Assistant (Multipurpose) in RRBs: in addition to English and Hindi, examinations will be offered in 13 specified regional languages, allowing candidates to choose the regional language of the State they have opted for as their examination medium, to level the playing field and enhance local recruitment effectiveness.