43rd BCS: 267 dropped candidates hold sit-in at secretariat, demand inclusion in gazette 

The candidates who were excluded from the final gazette of 43rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) recruitment held a sit-in before the secretariat Wednesday afternoon, demanding their inclusion in the gazette. 

They also asked the public administration ministry about the reasons behind their exclusion from the final gazette. 

A total of 267 candidates were dropped from the final gazette of the 43rd BCS recruitment. 

On the condition of anonymity, one of them told Prothom Alo, “I earned the PSC (Bangladesh Public Service Commission) recommendation after four years of efforts, including tuition and regular studies. I was overjoyed to join a new job, but then discovered I had been left out of the gazette. The  public admission ministry did not provide any reason for our exclusion.”

Another left-out candidate, seeking anonymity, alleged that they have been subjected to discrimination before joining a new job, though there has been a huge fuss about building a discrimination-free Bangladesh. 

“When there are no cases against us, why were we excluded? While our peers are joining the jobs, we are left behind only to wipe our tears,” the candidate said, demanding that they be included in the gazette.

The public administration ministry issued the gazette notification on 30 December, canceling the previous one published on 15 October. Some 168 candidates were dropped in the final gazette, raising the dropout count to 267. The 1,896 gazetted candidates have been asked to join their jobs on 15 January. 

Earlier, the BPSC recommended 2,163 candidates under the 43rd BCS on 26 December 2023. 

This is not the lone instance of exclusions during the final gazette. Some 67 candidates were dropped from the final gazette in the 41st BCS, 34 in the 40th, 61 in the 37th, 75 in the 38th, and 38 in the 36th.