40th BCS remains unfinished even after four years

Public Service Commission (PSC) had issued the recruitment circular for the 40th BCS four years ago on this very day. But, the process of this BCS hasn’t finished as yet.

Though PSC finalised candidates more than five months (5 months 10 days) ago, the government couldn’t appoint them as yet.

Public administration ministry sources say, they still haven’t received all the medical reports and police verifications. That’s why the appointment is taking time.

Several officials of the public administration ministry have said that earlier medical exams and police verifications took even longer. This time, they are trying to wrap it up within a short period of time.

When asked, Sayla Farjana, joint secretary (FA/IA and NA Branch) at the public administration ministry told Prothom Alo, though the medical exam and police verification procedures have finished on the field level, the complete report hasn’t reached the ministry yet. Hopefully the recruitment will be finalised within October.

Meanwhile, many of the recommended candidates are frustrated for not being appointed yet.

PSC published the recruitment circular for 40th BCS on 11 September, 2018. A total of 1,903 cadres were said to be recruited there.

More than 412 thousand (412,532) candidates applied in that BCS. The preliminary test was held on 3 May, 2019 in the participation of 327 thousand examinees. 20,277 candidates cleared the preliminary test according to the result published on 25 July that year. Written tests started in January of 2020 and continued into February.

Other procedures including script checking got interrupted as the corona pandemic broke out in the country back then. About a year later, the results of the written test were published on 27 January and 10,964 candidates had passed it. PSC then went on to change the viva-voce schedule five times due to corona situation.

The final result was published on 30 March this year, where PSC recommended 1,963 candidates to be recruited in different cadres.

A PSC member involved in 40th BCS examination said, office activities were closed because of corona towards the beginning. Though it resumed later, health guidelines had to be followed so, all couldn’t attend office at the same time.

When the corona situation worsened during the viva-voce, it had to be stopped several times. Thus, the 40th BCS procedures got delayed.

The PSC member added that according to government decision, 4,000 physicians were appointed on an emergency basis through 42nd special BCS to combat corona. This too slowed down the process of 40th BCS a bit.

Meanwhile, nine months have passed since the written test of 41st BCS but the results are yet to be published. Blaming 318 examiners for that, PSC has recommended taking actions against them.

While speaking to Prothom Alo, several recommended candidates waiting in line to be appointed, said, “We are tired of waiting. It is frustrating, not being able to join work even after waiting for four years. Everyone concerned have to think about how to reduce this time.”

Former PSC member and pro vice-chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Abdul Jabbar Khan said that it is sad for a single BCS taking up four years of time. The recruitment time should be reduced even more by changing the BCS test method.

Besides, without leaving them idle, candidates can also be appointed on conditions right after being recommended by PSC while their medical exam and police verification continue. This might reduce the time a bit to lessen the frustration of the jobseekers, he added.

*This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Nourin Ahmed Monisha