Aleya Khanam is a self-respecting and hardworking woman from West Bejgram village in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat. Through her hard-earned income, she has raised her three children to be educated and responsible citizens. Her eldest daughter has completed her studies and settled down, while her youngest daughter has just started college. Her son, Shamim Al Mahadi, completed his studies at Bangladesh Agricultural University and was preparing for the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination.
Alongside farming, Aleya Khanam built her own cattle farm at home in an effort to become financially self-reliant. A year ago, when she received the news that her son had been finally recommended for appointment through the 45th BCS examination, she felt proud of him. She thought his merit had received its due recognition.
But that relief did not last long. Eleven long months passed waiting for the gazette notification. Finally, on the night of 14 October, the Ministry of Public Administration published the final gazette notification for the 45th BCS. Of the 1,807 candidates recommended by the Public Service Commission (PSC), 1,702 secured jobs, while 105 were left out. Shamim Al Mahadi, Aleya Begum's son, was among those unfairly excluded from the list.
The self-reliant woman was shocked and heartbroken when she did not find her son's name in the gazette. Speaking to this correspondent over the phone, Aleya Begum raised several questions that she considered reasonable.
She said, “Let anyone from the government come and investigate our area in person. If even one person in the village can say anything bad about my son, I will have no further claim to his job. They can also enquire about him from his school, college and university teachers. If he is found innocent everywhere, why should my son be deprived despite committing no wrongdoing?”
This mother does not understand the state's complex laws or administrative calculations. But she wants the truth to come out and does not want anyone to unfairly take away a right earned through merit.
Protests by candidates excluded from the gazette, threats of ‘suicide’
Stories like that of Mahadi, Aleya Begum's son, are shared by many meritorious candidates across the country. According to the candidates, despite successfully passing every stage of the PSC examination and receiving recommendations, their names were not included in the gazette without any specific reason. None of them has been accused of any criminal offence or crime against the state.
Having lost jobs they earned through merit and a transparent process, these young people have taken to the streets, facing extreme uncertainty about their future. They are holding a sit-in programme in front of the Raju Memorial Sculpture at Dhaka University in the capital.
The candidates who say they have been deprived have issued an extreme ultimatum, threatening to ‘kill themselves’ at Shahbagh unless a supplementary gazette is published immediately to ensure their appointments.
Speaking in a tearful voice during the sit-in programme, Nur-e-Alam, one of the candidates excluded from the gazette, said, “I was recommended for the Ansar cadre in the 44th BCS and am currently working as an assistant director.
But although I was newly recommended for the police cadre in the 45th BCS, my name has now been excluded from the gazette. I received clearance for my previous job, so I want the government to explain how I was excluded this time.”
Another candidate, Moniruzzaman, was recommended for the fisheries cadre. He said, “I worked relentlessly for four to five years and passed the BCS examination. Why should I face this punishment despite committing no crime? I do not know what answer to give my parents. We are not asking anyone for mercy; we want back the job we earned through our own merit.”
The candidates have placed five demands before the government. These include announcing a specific date for issuing a revised gazette, publishing a supplementary gazette for candidates who face no legal barriers, informing candidates in writing of the reasons for their exclusion, providing them with an opportunity to defend themselves, and ensuring transparency regarding the information used to exclude candidates during administrative verification.
What is police verification, and when did it begin?
After the final results of the BCS examination are announced, candidates undergo background verification before the gazette notification is published. The practice was introduced during the 1920s under British rule. At the time, its primary purpose was to suppress anti-British movements across the Indian subcontinent and examine candidates' political beliefs and whether they were involved in any activities against the then government before recruiting them to government jobs.
According to police guidelines, the verification process is supposed to establish only whether a candidate has any specific criminal case or record of criminal activity against them. However, allegations have persisted for a long time that this century-old practice from the British colonial era is being used to block merit-based appointments on the grounds of candidates' relatives' political identities or other irrelevant information.
Experts have also expressed frustration over the longstanding bureaucratic complications surrounding the BCS, irregularities in the name of verification and political discrimination.
‘State injustice must stop immediately’
Professor Rezwana Karim Snigdha of the Department of Anthropology at Jahangirnagar University told Prothom Alo, “In an independent state, holding back the merit and future of young people through an outdated verification system inherited from the British era is a major systemic flaw. If there is no specific information about a criminal offence against a candidate or a court conviction, depriving them of an opportunity on political or other pretexts is in no way acceptable. What, then, have we learned from such a historic mass uprising in 2024?
“I would say that the old practice of political party-based discrimination has now turned into ‘discrimination based on beliefs’. When the government runs the state, it cannot afford to harbour prejudice against any particular party, group or community. Doing so amounts to a breach of its oath. Depriving candidates who have demonstrated their merit of their rightful government jobs is a form of ‘state-structural corruption’. This state injustice must stop immediately,” she added.
State minister for public administration assures re-verification
Regarding the overall situation, State Minister for Public Administration Md Abdul Bari told Prothom Alo, “Verification is a regular part of the government recruitment process. It has always been there. It is nothing new. More than half of the candidates whose names did not appear in the gazette were temporarily excluded because of shortcomings in their required documents and other legal papers. The cases of the remaining candidates whose names were not included have come to our attention. The prime minister has given clear instructions that no citizen of the country should be deprived of their rightful entitlements under the state's laws and regulations."
“Therefore, an initiative will be taken to re-examine (re-verify) all the information concerning the candidates who were excluded. Everyone who is considered eligible for the job within the legal framework will be appointed. You have already seen in the 49th BCS that even after the publication of the final gazette, eligible candidates secured jobs through re-verification,” he added.