How long does it take to be a BCS cadre?

It goes without saying that being a BCS (Bangladesh Civil Service) cadre is the most sought-after job in Bangladesh. But it does not come without paying the price. A jobseeker has to go through a lengthy examination process of three to four years to join the civil service. The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) that conducts BCS exams has taken around four years to announce the final result of the 41st BCS. The circular of this BCS was published on November 27, 2019 but its final results were published last week. To wait for an exam result for four years is very torturous. Not just the 41st BCS, the story is more or less the same in case of most BCS exams. If job aspirants' health check-up, police verification, publication of gazette and joining their workplaces are taken into account, it takes around five years to complete the entire journey to BCS. The 35th BCS was, however, an exception because it took only one and a half years to complete the whole process of recruitment.

Every year, thousands of candidates appear at BCS exam. As many as 346,000 jobseekers, a number that is around 150 times higher than the available posts of 2,390, have sat for the recently-held 45th BCS preliminary exam this year. So, there remains a hard competition among the candidates. With this, the path for BCS aspirants is full of uncertainties as they have to face prolonged delays at every stage of the exam, starting with publishing the circulars to appearing for tests and viva to getting their results. And the long recruitment process, right from the date of issue of notification to the date of declaration of the final results, wastes candidates' prime years besides taking a heavy toll on their physical and mental health. Oftentimes, it is found that university students are committing or attempting suicide out of frustration for not getting their desired job.

Once universities in Bangladesh had awful session jams. These days, the problem is greatly reduced and students are graduating in five to six years. But then it takes away three to five years from their lives just to get a suitable job. It is nothing but a waste of youthful energy. The current BPSC chairman, at the start of his tenure, had promised to complete the entire BCS exam process in one year. However, it still takes at least three years to complete one BCS exam cycle. This is hampering the career prospects of the examinees In India, it takes only 14-15 months for an aspirant to get the civil service job. We in Bangladesh should follow the Indian example to conduct this exam and resolve the long recruitment process of BCS. The issue should be addressed seriously considering the ordeal of countless candidates. Also, the government should enhance the capacity of the BPSC so that the lengthy recruitment process of BCS could be avoided.

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