The Central Recruitment and Promotion Department (CRD) has successfully today conducted the competitive exam for the post of Junior Assistants in the State bank of India (SBI) in Odisha. The exam centres in the State are Bhubaneswar and Berhampur. As per the employment notice for the year 2021, the notified number of vacancies in Odisha has been 75. Nearly 800 will be shortlisted for the Mains exams to be held later.
As per the notification, the vacancies notified under the Unreserved (UR) category stood at 31, whereas the numbers have been SC (12), ST (16), Economically weaker section (EWS) -7, OBC-9.
However, as per SBI sources here, there were nearly 433 applicants for 1 seat, which indicates the tough competition at hand for the applicants.
The prelims test conducted today has 3 sections carrying a total mark of 100, and the duration of the exam is 1 hour:
- English -- --30 questions --- Marks - 30 --- Time allotted - 20mins
- Quantitative Aptitude ---- 35 questions --- Marks ---35 --- Time -- 20mins
- Reasoning ---- 35 questions ---- Marks ---35---- Time Allotted --- 20min
In order to assess the difficulty level of the questions asked, opinions of a cross-section of students at an exam centre at Chandaka Industrial Estate here taken. As per the opinion of aspirants, the unanimous viewpoint has been the questions asked were easy, though few rate it as moderate.
Sample the Vox Populi.
"I have gone through all the three sections of the exam. The questions are easy. Since this is my first attempt, I couldn't attempt all the questions," said Pulak Mishra.
"The questions in the quantitative aptitude section are of moderate nature, rest parts are easy," said Dipak Mahakuda.
"Questions in all sections are easy. I was talking to my friends, they also feel that the questions were easy," observed Suhasini Dash.
Exam Analysis
Since it's the pandemic time, the questions, though, give a smile to every lip, except first-timers, but the flip side is the cut off for qualifying for the Main exam will see a jump this time.
As per the data released by SBI, the cut-off marks last year in Odisha were 68.25. In the year 2019, the number stood higher at 73.5.
A glance at cut-off over the years shows a rise in the cut-off level. The cut-off was around 52 in 2016.
What Will Be the Cut Off In 2021?
According to the candidates, given that the difficulty level this year is easy, the cut-off could rise to anywhere between 75-80.
However, when asked about the number of questions each applicant has attended, the general refrain has been that the attempted questions stood at around 73-82. In the quantitative aptitude segment, the average questions attempted stood at around 20.
Post taking of all the opinions, it seems the cut-off this year in Odisha will hover at around 72-73.