Inordinate wait for BCS appointments

The procedures of four BCS (Bangladesh Civil Service) exams are taking place simultaneously. Of the four, recruitment for the 37th BCS exam has not started as yet, even though seven months have passed since the results were published.

Some 10,000 officers will be appointed after completion of these four BCS procedures.

Recommendations for the 37th BCS have been filed, and the procedures for the 38th, 39th and 40th BCS are still under process.

Though the procedures for several BCS exams are taking place simultaneously, the duration before appointment has decreased, chairman of the public service commission, Mohammad Sadiq said. At least one BCS procedure is now being completed per year, he added.

The gazette notification of the 37th BCS has not been issued yet. PSC published the final results on 12 June. A number of 1,314 were recommended for different cadres while 3,454 were on the non-cadre waiting list. The non-cadre posts are to be filled according to vacancy.

A public administration ministry official, on condition of anonymity, said the police verification and health screening reports have not yet reached them and this may take one more month.

Foyez Ahmed, secretary of the public administration ministry, confirmed that the procedure of 37th BCS was in progress but he was unsure of the date of gazette notification.

“The procedure started three years ago and I still have not been appointed. My family always asks me about this and I cannot answer them. I am really frustrated as my youth is being wasted this way,” a candidate, recommended for the agriculture cadre in the 37th BCS, told Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity.

The written test of the 38th BCS exam was completed on 13 August. Prior to this, in 2017, the preliminary test was held on 29 December and 389,468 candidates applied for 2,024 positions.

PSC chairman said he expects the results of 38th BCS to be published within April.

The results of the 39th special BCS preliminary test were published on 6 September last year and the viva voce is being taken now. A total of 4,542 assistant surgeons and 250 assistant dental surgeons will be recruited through this.

A total of 412,532 aspirants applied for the 40th BCS exams. The preliminary test may be held within April. The circular was issued on 11 September 2018. A total of 1,903 will be recruited in different cadres in this BCS.

It is crucial to maintain the momentum that the PSC achieved in the last 8 to 10 years. It takes a long time to print the question papers and therefore a digital question bank can be adopted, said former chairman of PSC Ekram Ahmed.

PSC can print the question papers itself to save time and a candidate should not be allowed to sit for the exams more than two times, he observed.