2,000 doctors to be appointed through special BCS

An initiative has been taken to recruit 2,000 doctors through a special Bangladesh Civil Service, or BCS, exam while the Ministry of Public Administration has been requested to increase the age of recruitment for doctors to 34, says Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief advisor.

Speaking at the Secretariat on Thursday, he said: “As many as 2,000 more doctors will be recruited through the Public Service Commission (PSC) to ease the crisis of doctors in the country.”

Sayedur said that while the age limit for other cadres to enter the service was previously 30 years, doctors were recruited until the age of 32.

However, the age limit for all cadres was recently raised to 32 years, though the ceiling for doctors remained unchanged.

"We issued a request letter back then. However, the public administration ministry did not consider changing the age limit for doctors. We submitted a fresh application on Mar 5."

Sayedur Rahman added that the government has also decided to shut down substandard medical colleges. Once the existing students graduate, no new students will be allowed to register.

"Not just MATS. Our position on this is clear. Quality will not be compromised in any area of medical education," he said.