After months of protests and uncertainty, the Ministry of Public Administration has officially gazetted the names of 162 candidates who were previously left out of the 43rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) recruitment list. This long-awaited decision clears the path for these candidates to formally join various government cadres under the BCS framework.
The official notification was issued on Tuesday, May 20, marking a significant breakthrough for the affected candidates, many of whom had been campaigning for justice since early this year.
The candidates excluded from the earlier BCS gazettes had consistently raised their demands through organized press conferences, human chains, and repeated appeals to the authorities. Their efforts intensified in recent months. On April 29, a number of them launched an indefinite hunger strike in Dhaka, calling for not only their inclusion in the gazette but also the adoption of a transparent and fair verification policy for civil service recruitment.
In response to growing public attention and mounting pressure, the government moved to resolve the matter by publishing a new notification including 162 of the previously excluded candidates. The decision brings a sense of relief to those who had cleared all required exams but were sidelined due to bureaucratic and security clearance hurdles.
The 43rd BCS, which began with the publication of its circular on November 30, 2020, has been one of the lengthiest and most eventful BCS recruitment cycles in recent history. After the completion of the preliminary, written, and viva voce examinations, the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) recommended 2,163 candidates for various cadres on December 26, 2023.
However, the recruitment process soon became complicated. Following verification by intelligence and administrative agencies, 99 candidates were dropped from the final list, and a first round of the gazette, issued on October 15, included 2,064 names.
Subsequently, on December 30, the Ministry of Public Administration released a second notification, excluding another 267 candidates — 40 who had failed to appear for the mandatory medical examination and 227 who were deemed temporarily unfit based on intelligence reports. This left 1,896 candidates officially appointed at that stage.
The exclusion of 227 candidates, despite having successfully cleared all stages of the PSC-recommended process, sparked controversy and widespread discontent. Candidates and civil society groups raised concerns about the lack of clarity and fairness in the verification process, which lacked specific guidelines or transparency.
Now, with the inclusion of 162 out of those 227 excluded candidates, many of the concerns raised by affected individuals appear to have been acknowledged. However, 65 candidates from the excluded list still await resolution, and their future remains uncertain as the government has not yet issued any statement regarding their status.
This latest development highlights the need for a clearer, more consistent approach to post-examination verification in civil service recruitment. For many candidates, it also underscores the importance of sustained civic engagement and collective advocacy in securing fair treatment within bureaucratic systems.
