After three years of applications, examinations and interviews, securing a final recommendation for a Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) job should have been a moment of triumph.
For thousands of candidates, however, the celebrations have given way to months of uncertainty, with two dying before receiving their appointment letters.
Mumtahina Mimu, recommended for the livestock cadre through the 45th BCS examination, died of cancer on 17 July.
Mir Tanvir Ahmed, recommended for the agriculture cadre, was killed after being struck by a train on 18 August.
Mimu studied at Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, while Tanvir attended Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University.
Their deaths were unrelated to the recruitment delays, but they underscore the prolonged wait facing candidates who have cleared every stage of the fiercely competitive examination.
Families celebrated when the Public Service Commission (PSC) recommended their loved ones for cadre positions.
Yet another eight months have passed without the Ministry of Public Administration issuing the appointment gazette.
The delay is part of a longstanding problem.
Across the past 10 BCS examinations, the process from the recruitment circular to the appointment gazette has taken between three and a half and four years, leaving candidates frustrated and uncertain about their futures.
According to PSC data, the 45th BCS recruitment process began on 30 November 2022, attracting 318,000 applicants.
Of them, 12,789 passed the preliminary examination in May 2023, while 6,558 cleared the written examination in January 2024.
Following the viva voce examinations, the PSC published the final results in November 2025, recommending 1,807 candidates for cadre positions.
Nearly three years and 11 months after the process began, the appointment gazette remains unpublished.
Representatives of the successful candidates have met the state minister for public administration twice, seeking an end to the delay.
On both occasions, they were assured that the gazette would be issued soon.
State Minister Md Abdul Bari has also repeatedly told the media that the notification would be published promptly, but those assurances have yet to materialise.
Much of the delay centres on verification procedures.
Candidates must undergo background checks after clearing the final stage of government recruitment examinations, with various state agencies conducting the process.
For the 45th BCS, the Special Branch of Police completed its verification and submitted a report in July, according to sources at the public administration ministry.
Yet another intelligence agency was subsequently tasked with conducting a fresh round of checks. Its report has also reached the ministry.
Despite both verification exercises being completed, the gazette remains unpublished for reasons that have not been disclosed.
Similar complications have stalled appointment gazettes for the 46th BCS and the 49th Special BCS.
The result is a recruitment system in which the PSC takes years to complete examinations, interviews and final recommendations, while verification and gazette publication add almost another year to the process.
For some successful candidates, the uncertainty has already taken a financial toll.
A doctor recommended for the health cadre through the 45th BCS told TIMES, on condition of anonymity, that he had resigned from his job at a private hospital after receiving the PSC’s recommendation.
Repeated assurances that the appointment gazette would be issued soon discouraged him from accepting another position.
Now, almost 11 months later, he remains without his government appointment and is struggling financially.
His experience mirrors that of more than a thousand candidates who have passed the competitive examinations and secured final recommendations but remain unemployed while awaiting appointments.
Frustrated by the prolonged uncertainty, candidates recommended through the 45th BCS have decided to organise a press conference soon to draw the government’s attention to their plight.
BRAC University Professor Emeritus Manzoor Ahmed blamed the delays on longstanding institutional weaknesses.
“Such mismanagement has existed for a long time. It may now be getting worse. Taking so much time for verification is unreasonable. This is the result of institutional inefficiency.
The government should take steps to bring institutions such as the Public Service Commission under greater accountability and make them more efficient,” he told TIMES.
Seeking an explanation for the delayed gazette, TIMES contacted Ministry of Public Administration Additional Secretary Md Sakhawat Hossain.
He referred the matter to Md Aknur Rahman, additional secretary of the ministry’s Appointment, Promotion and Deputation Wing.
However, Aknur Rahman did not respond to phone calls or messages seeking comment.
