Rule amended: No recommendations for candidates already working in the same cadre

The government has brought about a major change to the public sector recruitment process as a provision has been added stating that any candidate previously selected for or currently working in a cadre or service will not be recommended for that same cadre again in future BCS examinations.

The Bangladesh Civil Service (Age, Eligibility, and Examination for Direct Recruitment) Rules, 2014, have been amended to implement this, according to a gazette notification published by the Ministry of Public Administration on Tuesday.

The notice said the government made the decision based on Section 59 of the Public Service Act, 2018, and Article 140(2) of the Constitution, in consultation with the Public Service Commission (PSC) and that it will take effect immediately.

The PSC had been awaiting the rule amendment before publishing the revised results of the 44th BCS.

The amendment fully replaces Rule 17 of the 2014 regulations.

The new rule states that the PSC will now select suitable candidates from among the successful examinees and recommend them to the government.

However, if it appears to the commission before the final results are published that:

• A candidate is already working in the same service or cadre, or

• A candidate was selected for but did not join the same service or cadre in a previous BCS examination, or

• A candidate has expressed unwillingness to be nominated again for the same service,

then the PSC may exclude that candidate or refrain from recommending them.

It means if a candidate was recommended for a specific cadre in a previous BCS exam, they will not have the opportunity to be selected for the same cadre again.

A newly added sub-section in the notification grants the PSC another authority. If a vacancy is created because a candidate opted out of being recommended, the commission may publish a supplementary result. In this case, recommendations can be made from the newly successful candidates according to merit and preference order.

However, this move will not adversely affect the merit or preference order of any candidate in the previously declared result.