Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules, 1981

Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules, 1981 laid down the procedure for recruitment to various services of the Republic. In exercise of the powers conferred upon by the proviso to Article 133 of the Constitution the President, in consultation with the bangladesh public service commission, approved the rules that were made public on 1 January 1981. The requirement to consult the Public Service Commission is a constitutional one as envisaged in Clause (2) of Article 140 of the Constitution. The rules, however, have gone through various amendments since 1981.

Article 29(l) of the Constitution requires that there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in respect of employment or office in the service of the Republic. The same Article under Clause (2) further requires that no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of any employment or office in the service of the Republic. However, under Clause (3) of the same Article, the Constitution makes certain exceptions in terms of the state's authority: (a) to make special provisions in favour of any backward section of citizens for the purpose of securing their adequate representation in the service of the Republic; (b) to make provisions for reserving appointments relating to any religious or denominational institution to persons of that religion or denomination; (c) to reserve for members of one sex any class of employment or office on that ground that by its nature it will be unsuited to members of the opposite sex.

The civil service recruitment rules are consistent with the provisions of the Constitution. The rules specify the procedures and eligibility requirements for appointment in both cases. For appointment by direct recruitment, the requirements prescribed are: (a) no person is eligible for direct recruitment if he is not a citizen of Bangladesh and is married to, or has entered into a promise of marriage with, a person who is not a citizen of Bangladesh; (b) no appointment to a service can be made unless the person selected is certified by a duly constituted medical board to be medically fit; (c) the antecedents of the candidate selected require to be verified through appropriate agencies and should be acceptable; (d) no person can be recommended for appointment unless he has applied in a prescribed form with fees and before the date notified by the Public Service Commission.

Persons already in government service or in the service of a local authority are required to apply through their official superiors. For appointment by promotion, the major requirement is the recommendation of the Superior Selection Board or the special promotion committee as the case may be. For promotion from lower post to entry post in the cadre, the Public Service Commission is to be consulted before promotion orders are issued. There are other requirements such as tests and good performance reports. The initial requirement for promotion to higher positions of the civil service is the recommendation of the council committee consisting of a cabinet minister. However, this committee was abolished following a judicial verdict pronounced by the High Court in 1994.

All persons initially appointed to a service is required to be on probation for a period of two years in case of direct recruitment and for one year if appointment is made by promotion. There are requirements for confirmation in service, which is contingent upon successful completion of foundation training courses and departmental examinations. For appointment by promotion, there is a length of service criteria, which can be relaxed by the President. There is provision for deputation from one service to the other.

Appointment to a service is made on the basis of both merit and quota reservations for districts, freedom fighters, women and tribals. Forty five percent are appointed on merit, thirty percent from freedom fighters and if appropriate candidates from this category are not available, their wards, ten percent for women, five percent for tribals and the remaining ten percent for districts. This applies to duly constituted cadre services only. [AMM Shawkat Ali]