PSC drives merit-based civil service hiring

Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) has undertaken wide-ranging institutional reforms aimed at strengthening transparency, fairness and efficiency in public recruitment following the July mass uprising, which was rooted in the quota reform movement.

Speaking to The New Nation before his retirement this month, PSC Secretary Dr Sanwar Jahan Bhuiyan said the Commission had introduced a series of reforms in response to demands raised by students and other stakeholders.

“Everyone knows that the anti-discrimination July mass uprising stemmed from the quota reform movement,” he said. “The PSC’s objectives are to ensure recruitment tests that are free from question-paper leaks, select qualified candidates based on merit, and eliminate all forms of discrimination in recruitment and selection.”

Established in 1972 under Article 137 of the Constitution, the PSC is the constitutional body responsible for recruiting civil servants for the government.

To enhance examination security, the Commission has established its own high-security printing press, equipped with 10 digital machines capable of printing up to 150,000 question papers an hour. According to the secretary, question setting, printing and distribution are now carried out under strict protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent question-paper leaks.

Dr Bhuiyan said the PSC had conducted more than 130 recruitment examinations over the past 20 months without any evidence of question-paper leakage.

The Commission has also introduced a circular system for evaluating written scripts, requiring scrutinisers to assess answer scripts collectively at the PSC premises. In addition, standardised marking rubrics have been introduced for every question to improve consistency, objectivity and fairness in script assessment.

As part of efforts to make public recruitment more accessible, the application fee has been reduced from Tk700 to Tk200 in response to stakeholder demands.

“The reduction has encouraged greater participation from job seekers,” Dr Bhuiyan said.

Candidates are now also allowed to revise their cadre preferences before the viva voce examination.

To ensure impartiality during interviews, viva boards are assigned through a lottery conducted on the morning of the examination, preventing candidates from knowing in advance which board they will face.
The Commission has also reduced viva marks from 200 to 100 to minimise variations in scoring among different interview boards.

According to Dr Bhuiyan, the PSC chairman has issued detailed guidelines on the conduct of viva examinations, including instructions on questions that should not be asked, such as those relating to a candidate’s place of origin or political views.

The examination syllabus has also been modernised, with further revisions under consideration based on international practices and ongoing research.

Dr Bhuiyan said the Commission had been making 93 percent of appointments on merit since the interim government assumed office, reflecting the aspirations of those who campaigned for quota reform and equal opportunities in public service recruitment.

The PSC has also introduced a “One BCS, One Year” policy, ensuring that one Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination is held annually. A recruitment calendar is now published in advance to help candidates plan their preparation and provide greater predictability in the recruitment process.

Responding to questions regarding litigation, Dr Bhuiyan said filing a case is a constitutional right.
“There are currently around 600 cases pending against the PSC,” he said, adding that the Commission has a panel of 20 experienced lawyers to represent it in legal proceedings.

On 13 April, the Commission published a one-year reform report outlining measures to strengthen the public recruitment system through greater efficiency, reduced delays, digitalisation and enhanced transparency.

PSC Chairman Prof Dr Mobasser Monem said the Commission had adopted a structured reform agenda over the past one and a half years to address longstanding challenges, including overlapping BCS examination schedules, lengthy recruitment processes, dependence on manual systems and institutional capacity constraints.

He said a realistic roadmap had been implemented to streamline examination schedules, enabling the Commission to resolve multiple ongoing BCS examinations simultaneously and improve coordination across different stages of recruitment.

The reform report highlights the introduction of the “One BCS, One Year” model as a key initiative to establish a predictable and time-bound recruitment cycle.

The report states that the reforms are guided by four core institutional values—merit, integrity, impartiality and efficiency—and supported by the Commission’s first five-year Strategic Plan for 2025-2029.

Among the operational improvements, the Commission has reduced the time required for assessing written examination scripts from around one year to approximately three months. It has also expanded digital systems and automated processes, enabling examination results to be published within about a week.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Public Administration Ismail Zabiullah said the reform report reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring that fairness, integrity and merit remain the foundation of public sector recruitment.

State Minister for Public Administration Md Abdul Bari said merit would remain the determining factor in government appointments.

Meanwhile, Policy and Strategy Adviser on Information, Broadcasting and Cultural Affairs Zahed Ur Rahman suggested that BCS examination questions should be made more challenging so that candidates who are not adequately prepared would be encouraged to pursue opportunities in other professions at an earlier stage.

The Commission says the reforms form part of a broader effort to build a modern, transparent and merit-based recruitment system capable of restoring public confidence in the country’s civil service selection process.