The Bangladesh government has left 57 candidates out of the final appointment gazette for the 49th Bangladesh Civil Service (Special) examination despite their selection by the Public Service Commission, with at least two candidates who ranked first in their respective subjects among those excluded.
The Ministry of Public Administration issued the gazette Wednesday, appointing 611 candidates to the BCS General Education cadre. The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) had selected 668 candidates for appointment, meaning 57 did not make it into the final gazette.
More than 312,000 candidates had applied for 683 vacancies in the special BCS examination, underscoring the scale of competition for the government positions. A total of 1,219 candidates cleared the written examination before the subsequent selection process.
The exclusion of the 57 candidates after they had passed the competitive process and secured PSC selection has triggered frustration and questions over the verification procedures used before final appointments.
Several of those excluded say they believe police or intelligence verification played a role in the decision. They say they have not been given a clear explanation of what allegations, if any, were made against them or why they were denied appointment.
Some have also alleged that political considerations influenced the final appointments, raising questions over whether an unofficial political screening process is being applied to candidates who have already qualified on merit.
The government gazette itself does not state why the 57 candidates were excluded.
Among those missing from the gazette is Md Sohel Rana, a former University of Dhaka student who ranked first in history in the 49th BCS. After finding that his name was absent from the final appointment list, Rana expressed his frustration in a social media post, saying he had been denied a place in the gazette despite finishing first in the subject.
Abdullah Al Mamun, who ranked first in social welfare, was also excluded. Mamun has claimed that his active participation in the July movement was the reason he was denied appointment.
Bushra Jahan, who ranked 14th in English, said the candidates ranked 13th and 15th were included in the gazette while she was not. In a social media post, she questioned why she had been denied appointment despite having no involvement in political activities.
Another candidate, Redwan Ahmed Tahmid, said he had spent years preparing for the civil service examination and secured the PSC’s recommendation, only to be excluded at the final stage.
The cases have renewed questions over Bangladesh’s longstanding system of police verification before candidates recommended by the PSC receive final government appointments.
A commission formed to recommend reforms aimed at ensuring neutrality in public administration had proposed changing the verification process.
Section 9.2 of the commission’s report recommended that police checks on successful BCS candidates should primarily determine whether a candidate has a criminal case against them. It also proposed seeking information from the Anti-Corruption Commission when necessary.
The reform commission separately recommended ending the practice of seeking information from police or intelligence agencies about an official’s political identity in promotion cases, arguing that such practices could create opportunities for political influence in the administration.
Under the existing BCS Recruitment Rules, 1981, health-related disqualification and criminal matters can be considered in the appointment process. However, the use of political identity or affiliation as a basis for denying government employment has drawn objections from public administration experts.
Public administration expert Firoz Mia told The Voice that a candidate without a criminal offense should not be denied appointment solely on the basis of a police or intelligence report.
Similar controversy has arisen in other government recruitment processes. Recently, allegations emerged that about 2,500 candidates who had finally qualified for recruitment as government primary school teachers were denied appointments. The government later appointed many of them following protests by the candidates.
Candidates recommended by the PSC were also excluded from BCS appointments under the previous Awami League government. At least 239 candidates recommended through the 38th to 42nd BCS examinations were not appointed at the time. They were subsequently appointed during the interim government.
For candidates, securing a place in the final BCS results normally marks the end of years of study, examinations and uncertainty. For the 57 candidates excluded from the 49th BCS gazette, however, PSC selection has not resulted in a government appointment.
Several of them are now demanding to know the specific grounds on which they were excluded, which agency or report formed the basis of the decision, and whether they will be given an opportunity to respond to any adverse findings against them.
The 611 candidates named in Wednesday’s gazette have been appointed to entry-level positions in the General Education cadre under the National Pay Scale 2026. They have been instructed to join their designated workplaces under the Secondary and Higher Education Division by Oct. 12.
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