BCS Examination

The Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) is a nationwide competitive examination in Bangladesh conducted by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) for recruitment to the various Bangladesh Civil Service cadres, including BCS (Admin), BCS (Taxation), BCS (Foreign Affairs), and BCS (Police) among others. The examination is conducted in three phases - the preliminary examination, the written examination and the viva voce (interview). The entire process from the notification of the preliminary examination to declaration of the final results takes 1.5 to 2 years.

Bangladesh Civil Service Examination is based on the British Raj - era Imperial Civil Service. The Civil Services Examination of Bangladesh is considered as the top most competitive job examination in Bangladesh. On an average, 150,000 to 225,000 candidates apply every year and the percentage of candidates appearing is roughly 90%. Aspirants must complete a three-stage process, with a final success rate of about 0.02% for all cadres and 0.005% for general cadres, although it varies from years to years exam.

Final result is published about 1.5 to 2 months after finishing the viva voce.

The eligibility norms for the examination are as follows:

All candidates must be Bangladeshi citizens. Candidates who are committed to marry or thereby engaged to foreign nationals should apply for a Permit/NOC to the Government of People's Republic of Bangladesh; applications can not be made without a Permit/NOC.

Master's degree or 4-year bachelor's degree after Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) Exam. More than one-third class in any academic phase is considered as disqualification of a candidate.

Quota system was introduced in the government service by an executive order in 1972, After independence of Bangladesh till 1976 only 20 percent of civil officers were recruited on merit basis. In 1976 recruitment on merit increased from 20% to 40% and in 1985 merit became 45% which is still going on. On the other hand, rest 55% is distributed as 30% for children of freedom fighters, 10% for women, 10% for districts and 5% for indigenous people. Freedom fighter quota is further continued to their children and grand children in 1997 and in 2010 respectively.

Quota Distribution (for both cadre and non-cadre class I & II gazetted posts)

Current policy of the quota system is highly criticized by the civil society members and intellectuals. Further continuation of freedom fighter quota among their children and grandchildren is highly controversial and, to some extent, a violation of Article 19 and 29 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. The students demonstrated a mass protest against this quota system in 2013.Anti Quota Protests were spread to other parts of the country which made this protest a vital political issue.

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Wikipedia