43rd BCS: 227 dismayed by loss of jobs they ‘secured’

The fates of 227 of the nearly 2,000 job seekers who had been recommended for government positions following the 43rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) exams remain up in the air.

The Ministry of Public Administration, who had given assurances of appointments being finalised “within two or three days”, says the matter is still “being processed” after two to three months.

The candidates who have been dropped say they are breaking down mentally as the wait drags on and the future of the jobs they had seemingly “secured” after extended efforts seems bleak. One or two have even attempted suicide.

One of these candidates, Paresh Chandra Pal, is a graduate from Dhaka University.

He told bdnews24.com, "I am not that politically connected. And I played a role on the front lines of the July movement."

"But I still don't understand why my name was left out. Our colleagues have already started work three months ago, but we remain in extreme uncertainty."

The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) had recommended the appointment of 2,163 candidates for the 43rd BCS.

After the intelligence agency's report found “negative comments” about 227 candidates, a notification was issued on Dec 30 to appoint 1,896 candidates.

The government has not disclosed the allegations against the 227 people whose appointments have been suspended. As a result, it is facing criticism on its decision.

The job seekers who were dropped have been holding various programmes in front of the Secretariat since the start of this year.

On Jan 9, they applied to the public administration secretary to reconsider the decision.

In view of the application, Public Administration Secretary Mokhles ur Rahman held a briefing saying that the government has taken the initiative to appoint a portion of the job seekers who were excluded from the exam, “provided they do not have a history of crime or treason-related crime”.

"Aside from those who committed crimes or treasonous crimes, or were expelled, or had a hidden crime exposed, the appointment of the others is just a procedural matter. They will get it,” he said.

The secretary also assured that the new appointment list would be published “within two to three days” after the file was reviewed by the Chief Advisor’s Office and the President's Office.

When this reporter attempted to contact Secretary Mokhles at the end of March, his Public Relations Officer Mansur Hossain said: "Sir, I suggest talking to Senior Assistant Secretary Uzzal Hossain about the matter."

In this regard, Uzzal, an officer of the 'New Appointments' branch, said: "I don't have the authority to talk about such a major issue."

Later, when this reporter went to the public administration secretary again, he sent a message through his Private Secretary Mohammad Bariul Karim Khan, saying: "The matter is under process."

‘THERE ARE MANY STORIES OF HARDSHIP’

Another job seeker who was dropped -- Raihan Uddin -- was recommended for the education cadre. He said, “Three of us recently attempted suicide in extreme despair. Many are now nearly dying from despair because they wonder why they have lost the jobs after they received them.”

“Who will take responsibility if something untoward occurs under these circumstances?”

Another eliminated candidate, Nafis Sadiq, said: “They worked hard from 2020 to obtain a recommendation in 2023. Then they were removed by a gazette in 2024 -- think about how this affects a person mentally.”

Masuma Akhter Mini, who graduated from the Department of English at Dhaka University, said: “There are many stories of sacrifice and hardship of candidates preparing since 2017 and being recommended for a BCS job in 2024.”

“I left my job at St Gregory’s High School to prepare for the exam. An hour and a half before I was supposed to take the first preliminary exam, I fell and broke my right elbow. I endured intense pain and came this far after taking the exam with that broken arm.”

Masuma continuted, “The 43rd BCS was my BCS of longing -- a BCS of sacrifice and struggle. Today, 1,896 of our colleagues are returning home with their Eid salaries and bonuses. And we don’t even have jobs.”

“Why are our brothers trying to commit suicide today? Well, do we deserve such a life?”

WHAT HAPPENED?

A total of 435,190 applications, the second highest on record, were sent in after the BCS notification was published on Nov 30, 2020, during the rule of the ousted Awami League government.

Around 321,650 applicants participated in the preliminary tests during the COVID-19 pandemic on Oct 29, 2021.

The PSC later published the final results of this BCS on Dec 26, 2023, and recommended the appointment of 2,805 candidates, including cadre and non-cadre. Of them, 2,163 were waiting for appointment to cadre posts.

These 2,163 applicants were processed through a pre-screening by the Special Branch of the police and deputy commissioners of the relevant districts. Forty did not attend their health examination and 59 were temporarily dropped due to the agency reports, leaving 2,064 to receive appointments in a notice issued on Oct 15.

The notice raised questions from several quarters about the legitimacy of the recruitment. In order to re-establish trust and confidence in the recruitment process, to clear away criticism, and allow recruited candidates to start work with a clean image, it was decided that the NSI and DGFI would conduct a further screening through a re-evaluation of the candidates was conducted through intelligence agencies.

Accordingly, objections and lack of recommendations were reported against 227 applicants, who were declared temporarily unsuitable for appointment. Further scrutiny and inquiry was recommended in their cases. The 40 candidates who did not take their medical examination were dropped.

However, the notice stated that if any of the 227 excluded applied for reconsideration, the matter would be looked into.