43rd BCS recruitment: Govt to reevaluate candidature of 227

The government today announced a review opportunity for 227 candidates from the 43rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) recruitment process, who were temporarily deemed ineligible based on intelligence reports.

A press release from the Ministry of Public Administration was issued in this regard.

The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) had initially recommended 2,163 candidates for appointment on January 25, 2024, under Rule 4 of the BCS Recruitment Rules, 1981. The recommendations followed preliminary character verification by the Special Branch of Bangladesh Police and district commissioners, the press release said.

Out of the recommended candidates, 40 failed to attend the mandatory medical examination, and 59 were temporarily deemed ineligible based on intelligence reports.

As a result, 99 candidates were excluded from the recruitment process, leaving 2,064 candidates eligible for appointment in the October 15, 2024, notification.

To ensure the integrity of the recruitment process, the government ordered a more comprehensive character verification of all 2,163 recommended candidates.

This involved assessments by the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), it added.

The additional verification identified adverse findings against 227 candidates, temporarily deeming them ineligible for appointment pending further investigation.

With the exclusion of these 227 candidates and the earlier 40 who missed the medical examination, a total of 267 candidates were removed from the list.

The final recruitment notification, issued on December 30, 2024, confirmed the appointment of 1,896 candidates.

The excluded candidates protested outside the Secretariat, demanding an explanation for their removal from the final list.

Earlier, on December 30, the government issued a fresh gazette announcing the revised appointments, revoking the October 15 notification.

The 43rd BCS, announced on November 30, 2020, under the Awami League government, received 435,190 applications, the second-highest on record. Preliminary tests, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were held on October 29, 2021. The BPSC published final results on December 26, 2023, recommending 2,805 candidates for cadre and non-cadre posts, including 2,163 for cadre appointments.