SBI rectifies language norm for NE candidates

State Bank of India (SBI) has reopened the online application process for recruitment of Circle Based Officers (CBO). This decision follows a recent corrigendum allowing candidates from Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, who have passed Class 10 or 12 with English as a subject, to apply under the NE Circle. The revised application window is now open from June 21 to June 30.
The corrigendum also comes following this newspaper’s May 26, 2025 report highlighting the “language barrier” faced by Naga candidates in the SBI recruitment process.
SBI had earlier released an online advertisement for recruitment of CBOs (May 9 to May 29) for all North Eastern states except Sikkim, with a total of 100 vacancies. A critical component of the process was the local language proficiency test where candidates are required to demonstrate knowledge of the specified regional language(s) of their state.
For instance Assamese and Bodo for Assam; Mizo for Mizoram; Garo and Khasi for Meghalaya; and Kokborok and Bengali for Tripura. Nagaland Post had earlier reported how candidates from all 17 recognised Naga tribes were at risk of being unfairly excluded due to the omission of English from the specified language list, despite it being the official language of Nagaland and the medium of instruction in schools and colleges across the state.
The report also noted that Nagaland has the lowest percentage of SBI employees in the North East, despite high levels of educated youth and significant unemployment. The lack of local language representation in recruitment processes was identified as a key systemic barrier.
In its corrigendum dated June 20, SBI’s Central Recruitment & Promotion Department, announced the inclusion of English as a specified language for candidates applying from Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The corrigendum clarified that candidates from these states who studied and passed English as a subject in Class 10 or 12 will now be exempted from the local language proficiency test.
Inclusion of English is applicable for candidates who have studied and passed 10th/12th standard with English as one of the subjects from Arunachal Pradesh /Nagaland, it stated.
In view of this correction, the online registration window has been reopened on the SBI official careers portal: https://bank.sbi/web/careers/current-openings. Candidates who have already registered need not apply again, SBI said. All other terms and conditions of the original advertisement remain unchanged.