Govt struggles to fill FF quota in civil services

�2,500 reserved posts of BCS technical cadres are lying vacant�

There are not enough candidates to fill up the 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren, women and ethnic minorities in the technical cadres of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), said sources in the public administration ministry and the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC).   The technical cadres include education, livestock and engineering. Owing to the non-fulfilment of the quota, the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) has not been appointing any one against the freedom fighters’ quota category, leaving a number of positions lying vacant for the past few years. In this context, the government is going to fill up the reserved posts from the national merit list of BSC qualifiers, if the required number of candidates is not available from the reserved category, the sources added. The public administration ministry has already prepared a proposal in this regard and it is likely to be placed at the cabinet meeting to be held today. According to the sources, at least 2,500 reserved posts of technical cadres of BCS exam, including 667 posts in the 34th BCS, are lying vacant as there are no candidates from the quota for freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren, women and ethnic minorities. BPSC chairman Ikram Ahmed told The Independent that they were not getting qualified candidates in technical cadres of BCS examination from the reserved quotas in the last few years. “That’s why we cannot fill up a number of posts of technical cadres of BCS examination from the 32nd to 35th BCS examinations due to the government’s restriction in this regard,” he said. “Both sides–the candidates and the ministries–are being affected for this reason,” he added.
Ahmed said, “We have urged the authorities concerned to take a decision so that we can appoint and fill up the posts of the technical cadres of BCS examination from the national merit lists if candidates are not available from the reserved categories in the greater interest of the country.”
A BPSC member said, on condition of anonymity, they could not find any candidates for the posts reserved for freedom fighters in the last 20 years. “Candidates for the 30% reserved posts for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters, women and ethnic minorities are not available for the technical cadres of the BCS exams for last 5 years,” he said.
“We have urged the authorities, including the public administration ministry, several times to rationalize the quota system, especially for the reserved posts. But they are yet to respond,” he added.
Former Cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder said the quota should be reduced from the present 30% to 5-10%. “The country will benefit more if manpower is appointed on merit basis,” he added.

Govt struggles to fill FF quota in civil services

�2,500 reserved posts of BCS technical cadres are lying vacant�

There are not enough candidates to fill up the 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren, women and ethnic minorities in the technical cadres of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), said sources in the public administration ministry and the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC). The technical cadres include education, livestock and engineering. Owing to the non-fulfilment of the quota, the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) has not been appointing any one against the freedom fighters quota category, leaving a number of positions lying vacant for the past few years. In this context, the government is going to fill up the reserved posts from the national merit list of BSC qualifiers, if the required number of candidates is not available from the reserved category, the sources added. The public administration ministry has already prepared a proposal in this regard and it is likely to be placed at the cabinet meeting to be held today. According to the sources, at least 2,500 reserved posts of technical cadres of BCS exam, including 667 posts in the 34th BCS, are lying vacant as there are no candidates from the quota for freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren, women and ethnic minorities. BPSC chairman Ikram Ahmed told The Independent that they were not getting qualified candidates in technical cadres of BCS examination from the reserved quotas in the last few years. Thats why we cannot fill up a number of posts of technical cadres of BCS examination from the 32nd to 35th BCS examinations due to the governments restriction in this regard, he said. Both sidesthe candidates and the ministriesare being affected for this reason, he added. Ahmed said, We have urged the authorities concerned to take a decision so that we can appoint and fill up the posts of the technical cadres of BCS examination from the national merit lists if candidates are not available from the reserved categories in the greater interest of the country. A BPSC member said, on condition of anonymity, they could not find any candidates for the posts reserved for freedom fighters in the last 20 years. Candidates for the 30% reserved posts for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters, women and ethnic minorities are not available for the technical cadres of the BCS exams for last 5 years, he said. We have urged the authorities, including the public administration ministry, several times to rationalize the quota system, especially for the reserved posts. But they are yet to respond, he added. Former Cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder said the quota should be reduced from the present 30% to 5-10%. The country will benefit more if manpower is appointed on merit basis, he added.