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The candidates who were removed from the final gazette of the 43rd Bangladesh Civil Service, or BCS, recruitment have gathered at the main entrance of the Secretariat.
They demand an explanation for their exclusion from the final appointments.
The candidates have been waiting at the entrance of the Secretariat since Wednesday morning.
Earlier on Dec 30, a fresh gazette was issued to appoint 1,896 candidates, revoking the Oct 15 notification of the Ministry of Public Administration for the recruitment in the 43rd BCS.
As many as 2,064 people were appointed in the long-awaited Oct 15 notification issued by the ministry.
The Public Service Commission, or PSC, recommended the appointment of 2,163 candidates in various cadres from the 43rd BCS on Dec 26, 2023.
In the notification issued on Oct 15, more than 10 and a half months after the recommendation, 99 people were left out from different cadres.
Amlesh Sarkar, a candidate waiting at the main entrance of the Secretariat on Wednesday afternoon, told bdnews24.com: “I was appointed in the agriculture cadre in the first notification. But now my name is not in the latest notice. We don’t know why.”
“Many who were left off in the first notification have been included in the second one. From the first notification, a total of 222 candidates were excluded in the second one.”
Sifat Ullah Tasneem, who was appointed to the BCS cooperation cadre in the first gazette, told bdnews24.com: “We are waiting at the Secretariat entrance for an explanation of why we have been left out. a delegation went inside to talk to officials.”
A candidate recommended in the administration cadre in the first gazette entered the Secretariat with an application to reincorporate those who were left out.
After returning from there, the candidate told bdnews24.com: “The senior secretary of the public administration ministry is unavailable today. That’s why the application was not accepted. We were told that our application will not be accepted without the consent of the senior secretary. We’re still waiting.”
Raju Kumar Sarkar, who was appointed to the education cadre in the first notification, told bdnews24.com: “We don’t know why we have been left out. We have been gazetted after verification during the tenure of the interim government. If they flag any political affiliation now, what did they do during the verification process?”
Syed Md Irfan, who was appointed to the information cadre in the first notice, told bdnews24.com: “If they can show that I have a political background, I will give up my demand for a job.”
The notification, dated Dec 30, was signed by Uzzal Hossain, senior assistant secretary of the contract and foreign recruitment branch of the public administration ministry.
When asked about the excluded candidates, he told bdnews24.com: “Senior officials can talk about this matter.”
Mokhlesur Rahman, senior secretary of the ministry, did not respond to bdnews24.com’s phone calls seeking his comment on the matter.
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.