Issues and Problems of Public Personnel

Abstract
Public personnel in any country are mostly talked and major issue in the
government service. They play an important role in the service. They can
make serious impact on nation. Both it can be positive and negative. Their
effectiveness and efficiency is based on the system of countrys recruitment,
selection, training and promotion. If these procedures are transparent and
not biased then there is possibility to get high quality personnel. And in this
study I like to find out the overall system of procedure of personnel
management in the public sector in Bangladesh, their problem and also
present some recommendation that how to get rid of these problem.
Introduction
Management framework does not need to be exaggerated in
the face of the changing role of public administration in recent
decades due to external and internal pressures that have
forced governments worldwide to redefine the role of the state
and recalibrate public administration capacities
-Keuleers, 2004
Bangladesh is a developing country. Our civil service has inherited from
British civil service. After 40 years of independence our civil service is still
not modernized. Though there are lots of problems in public personnel
management of Bangladesh because of internal and external pressure, its
changing slowly. Reform and reconstruction initiative are taken in a regular
basis. Now personnel management of Bangladesh civil service is lot more
flexible and public oriented.
But in contrast with developed countries our civil service far behind from
expected efficiency and effectiveness because we still have a huge problems
and obstacle in our public personnel management.
Development
Bangladesh :
of
Public
Personnel
Management
in
Pubic Personnel Management:

It is commonly acknowledged that human resources management is the
primary resources in any organization. In service organization in particular,
the availability of abundant finances, physical resources, and infrastructure,

equipment, machinery, buildings, technology and information resources is of
no consequences without a well trained, efficient workforce to provide the
relevant service to clients.
Huddlestone describes public personnel administration as that subfield of
public administration which is sometimes more descriptively known as
human resource management. He states that it is the job of the personnel
administration to ensure that the public institution has most competent
people working for it, this involved not only recruiting and selecting the best
employees acquire the skills knowledge and competence to perform their
task effectively. The term Public Personnel Management is consists of the
three integrated elements.
1. Public: This refers to the locus of the sub discipline, that is the terrain
on domain in which it is practiced, namely public sector generally
( including commercialized public corporations, statutory bodies and
local authorities) and the public service in particular ( consisting of the
central state departments and provincial administration).
2. Personnel: this denotes the human resources labor, workers,
personnel, etc- who are employed in public sector and who are
involved in the provision of public services to society.
3. Management: This refers to those practices, activities and process
related to the marshalling of human resources of public organization in
order to contribute effectively and efficiently to the optimal
achievement of predetermined organizational goals.
So we can say that public organizations should have sufficient personnel,
with the right skills and expertise in the right places, to carry out the efficient
and effective delivery of public goods and services to all segments of society.
For this reason, the effective management of public personnel is
fundamental to the achievement of successful governance and service
delivery.
Development of PPM in Bangladesh:
Public personnel management is the administration of the pubic personnel,
an extra ordinary interest is taken by the general public in how the
government employees are hired, used, disciplined and rewarded. In
particular, the general public is concerned to see that public personnel
management should conformed to a system in which all citizens have an
equal opportunity to enter the public service and to receive advancement in
the service in accordance with proven merit in the discharge of official

duties.
The British system
The main feature of the British system is that it has over the years evolved
neither as a centralized civil service management giving rise nor to a single
organ but two institutions. The civil service department (CSD) and the civil
service commission (CSC). The CSD was under the control of the prime
minister as minister for the civil service, with responsibility for the day to day
work of the department delegated to a senior minister. The CSD discharged a
considerable degree of centralized authority over the CS, including the
government machinery in general. In the sphere of personnel management,
it was responsible for policy on a central arrangement for recruitment,
training, promotion, posting, and general career management of civil
servants.
The Pakistan System
The structural organization of Pakistan civil bureaucracy as a whole was both
rigid and complex in particular; the higher bureaucracy was divided into
distinct functional entities or cadres between which little permeation of
talent occurred. It was actually the product of a series of pragmatic
responses to political and administrative needs of British rule in India in
conjunction with intermittent executive and legislative actions and the
recommendations of such enquiry committees as the Aitchison commission,
Islington commission and Lee Commission.
There were in the main three types of class one (1) post in the central
government of Pakistan; first, post which were included in a regularly
constituted service or cadre; second, post which were not in regular services
or cadres but formed part of certain identifiable groups, example,
economists, scientists, magistrate-lawyers, deputy/asst. educational
advisors, deputy/asst. chiefs in the planning commission ; and third, and
economic pool consisting of one thirty post in the economic ministry.
Example, finance industry.
The Bangladesh System
The present system of civil service management in Bangladesh can be
traced to almost 200 years of the British rule of the Indian subcontinent. The
British civil service management was premised on a highly centralized
administrative structure with control and decision making power vested at
the top. Civil servants, especially the elite ones, were specially recruited and
indoctrinated for holding both policy making and policy implementing
positions at the Secretariat and at the field level. These officers had more
scope of promotion than others.
The government of Bangladesh has a two-tier administrative system. The
upper tier is the central secretariat at the national level consisting of the
ministries and divisions to provide policies and to perform clearinghouse
functions. The other tier consists of line departments/directorates attached
to the ministries and divisions that are mainly responsible for general
administration, service delivery to citizens and implementation of various
government development programs at the sub-national level. (Ahmed, 2002:
327).
At present, the Bangladesh civil service has more than one million civil
servants in 38 ministries, 11 divisions, 254 departments and 173 statutory
bodies (ADB, 2005). The internal organization structure of a ministry reflects
a hierarchical order. A minister is in charge of a ministry and is normally the
political head of that ministry. A ministry consists of at least one division. A
secretary or, in his absence an additional secretary, is considered the
administrative head of the ministry. He/she conducts and looks after the
duties of a division, which includes routine operation, supervision of its
staffing and organizational processes. He/she is also the adviser to the
minister regarding policy and administrative issues. A division can further be
divided into wings. A joint secretary is the head of a wing and has the power
to submit cases directly to the minister for decisions. In practice, such cases
are first submitted to the secretary/additional secretary for his consideration
before being placed before the minister. A wing is composed of branches.
The head of a winga joint secretarysupervises the activities of the
branches within his wing. Each branch is under the charge of a deputy
secretary. Below the branch is the section. Headed by an assistant secretary,
it is the basic working unit of a division. An assistant secretary disposes all
cases based on clear precedents. Below the level of assistant secretary,
there are a considerable number of office personnel (Zafarullah, 1998: 8387).
Departments are also attached to each ministry/division. The departments
determine the blueprint for implementing various decisions taken by the
ministry/division by providing technical information and advice. Who heads
these departments or directorates depends on their importance. In some
cases, an officer enjoying the pay grades and benefits of a secretary heads a
department while on the other cases it is headed by an official enjoying the

pay grade and benefits of a deputy secretary, joint secretary or an additional
secretary (Ahmed, 2002: 329). There are four classes in Bangladesh civil
service. Class I and part of class II officers are treated as gazette officers;
the rest are considered as non-gazette officers (Ahmed, 2002: 334). The
number of Class 1 officers is about 40,000. Of them 70% are recruited into
29 cadres; the rest do not belong to a particular cadre but work in functional
areas. Recruitment is conducted by the Public Service Commission (PSC) as
per requirement conveyed by the Ministry of Establishment, which is
responsible for the personnel policy within the civil service and human
resources function, particularly in the administrative cadre (DFID, 2004).
Civil Service Management
The Ministry Of Establishment (MOE) acts as the central personnel agency of
the government. Broadly, its responsibilities include laying down the broad
policies, principles, rules and regulation for the management of the civil
service. More specifically, the MOE is responsible for: (a) formulation of
policies, composition of cadre services and advising other ministries and
divisions on proper management of cadre service under their control; (b)
recruitment rules for all services and posts; (c) policy regarding classification
of services and posts and determining their status;(d) policy regarding ACR;
(e) career development of government servants; (f) Secretariat Instructions;
(g) administrative research, management and reforms for better and
economic execution of government business (Cabinet Division 1990).
Besides , MOPA plays the key role in such personnel areas as training,
placement, transfer, promotion and disciple.
Human Resource Management in Bangladesh Civil Service:

Management is the process of efficiently achieving organizational objectives
with and through people. Human Resource management of BCS therefore
entails certain issues that must be responsible to changing social and
economic condition. They are:
Recruitment & Selection:

The First and foremost purpose of recruitment process is to attract
qualified applicants, define job requirement, determine selection
method & prepare for smooth induction and orientation. For
recruitment to various posts under 29 cadres of BCS, Bangladesh
Public Service commission (BPSC) conducts examination to identify the

deserve candidates based on the demands of MOPA. Then selected
candidates gather in the induction & orientation program to learn
through the process of working in different position on the job.
Placement:
Ministry of Public Administration is the agency that responsible for
placement of BCS (administration) cadres. Other officers are
administrated according to their respective career placement planning
by the respective cadre controlling ministries.
Training & Development:

Basically there are two types of training arrangements in the civil
service of Bangladesh: Internal & External.
Internal training can be categorized into 4 groupsi.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Foundation Training: It is a long-term training course for newly

recruited civil servants. This training is organized by BPATC.
On the job/ Departmental Training: Here the officers learn
exclusively job related techniques within the organization.
Mid Level Training: BPATC organize advanced courses on
administration and development as the mid level training for the
Deputy Secretary and equivalent officer for the duration of two
month.
Senior Staff Course: Designed for the Joint Secretary and
equivalent officers is also a two month long course.
External Training: It may be accomplished in two different ways; through

open offers received from development partners and through provision made
by the development project.
Promotion & Performance Appraisal:

The concern authority emphasis merit and experience for the promotion
of Civil Service cadres. Besides this civil servants are measured on the
basis of ACR. Promotion may take place in different waysi.
ii.
iii.
iv.
From
From
From
From
lower level to higher level in same cadre.

lower post to higher post in non cadre service.
lower class to higher class.
a lower post to higher post within the same service.
Compensations and Inducements:

Compensation is a generic term, including various sorts of rewards
given employees. The most obvious component is pay: it may be
wages and salaries; it may be insurance, pension and medical benefits;
it may be time off for vacations and other indirect rewards. The present
pay structure in Bangladesh the compensation package for BCS officers
is minimum 4100TK to maximum 40000TK.
Retirement & Termination:

According to the constitutional Provision the government servant will
serve the
republic until he/she reaches the age at 57. Government can
send anybody on
retirement after fulfillment of 25 years of qualifying
service even though the employee has not reached 55. Similarly employee
can go on a voluntary retirement after 25 years of qualifying service.
Career Planning in Bangladesh Civil Service:

Career planning is an important issue of Bangladesh Civil Service. It is a
continuous process that involved managers, human staff, external parties
and individual themselves. Career planning is closely related to training and
development policy and its management. It is also related to the ACR in
which the overall performance rating is provided in respect of a civil service.
It can be explained by integrated legacy relating to the civil service and the
structures and functions are based on a division into generalists and
specialists. The recommendations made by various committees/commissions
to design a career path allowing opportunities for both generalists and
specialists to enter into policy planning and management.
Recommendations of Career Planning by ASRC 1972:
On 15 March 1972, a four member Administrative and Service Reorganization
Committee (ASRC) was appointed. The chairman of the committee was vice
chancellor of the University of Dhaka professor Mujaffer Ahmed. The
recommendations of career planning given by the committee are as below:
1. Continuous grading system from top to bottom should be substituted in
each occupational group.
2. Reservation of posts for various groups within the public service should
be discontinued.
3. All public servants should be organized in a single classes unified
grading structure. The UGS would
comprise of ten grades with
appropriate number of pay levels matching different levels of skill and

responsibility premised in job analysis.
4. To inculcate professionalism in the public service. The division of all
posts within into two broad categories to be designated as Functional
Posts and Area Group Posts.
Functional Posts: Functional posts are those for which a preentry technical and vocational education is required. It also
includes those who acquire the necessary vocational and
technical qualifications after joining the service.
Area Group Posts: Area Group Posts are those which lie outside
the Functional Group. These posts do not require any single
functional qualifications. These posts are further demarcated into
a number of Area Groups for administrative convenience,
training and development facilities. The specific areas include:
o Economic Administration: Monetary, fiscal, commercial,

price, income and investment policies, economic planning
and project evaluation, foreign aid, foreign exchange, etc.
o Financial Administration: Budgeting, expenditure control,
etc.
o Industrial Administration:
Industrial planning and
development, investment promotion, small and cottage
industrial development, industrial technology etc.
o Commercial administration: Internal external trade and
related matters.
o Social Administration: Rural and urban development,
cooperatives, community development, health and family
planning, labour relations, information and public
relations, social welfare, etc.
o Education
Administration:
Education
Policies
and
administration, manpower planning and administration,
etc.
o Personnel Administration: Management analysis involving
work study, grading and evaluation of posts, organization
and methods, selection techniques, training and career
management, staff supervision and control, motivation,
moral and staff welfare, etc.
o General administration: Maintenance of public order, land
revenue and land management administration, internal
security and intelligence, defense administration, relief

and rehabilitation, distribution of food and essential
commodities and residuary executive functions.
5. Creation of a personnel division attached to the Office of the Prime
Minister staffed by professionally competent persons to undertake a
variety of responsibilities in the area of staffing, job analysis and
evaluation, training and career planning.
6. Establishing a Personnel cell in each ministry and department.
7. Promotions to higher positions are given on the basis of merit as
demonstrated in appropriate examinations and recommendations of
relevant departmental promotion committees.
8. A civil servant is allowed to remain in a given job for at least Two years.
9. The most important element in the career management concept
developed by ASRC is its emphasis on the linked experience of a civil
servants career. The element of linked experience demands that
mobility of a civil servant as the policy management level should be
limited to allied areas or subjects rather than subjects which have no
linkage.
10.
It recommends that between 7th and 10th years of service
personnel should be posted in the districts for a period of one year.
11.
At appropriate higher levels, it may be advantageous to post
senior area group administrators in senior diplomatic posts abroad.
The ASRC submitted its recommendations to the government in two
phases. But there was no official response to the committees work till the
end of the Mujib government.
Recommendations of Public Administration Sector Study (PASS),
1993:
Various development partners assistance to prepare reform policies of
public administration in Bangladesh. Public Administration Sector Study
was conducted by UNDP at 1993. PASS (1993) looks at the problem of
career development in civil service through a survey of the opinion of the
civil servants. The Sample size is about 50 civil servants evenly
distributed between BCS (Administration) and other BCS cadres. The
result indicated that 80 percent of the respondents replied in the negative
when they were asked if they had career plans developed for them or in
consultation with them. Seventy percent of the remaining 20 percent
indicated
that
their
plans
had
been
determined
by
their
ministries/organizations and 10 percent said that the plans were
determined by training institutions. Only 5 percent responded by saying
that they were satisfied with the career plans developed for them. Then
PASS was given some recommendations about career planning of
Bangladesh Civil Servants. Some of them are as following:
1. The career plans exist for only a minority of staff and frequently
drawn up without consulting them. Among senior civil servants,
career plans are generally non-existent and unsatisfactory where
they do exist.
2. Provide professional development opportunities for individual
officers. This has to be determined in the context of the ACR and
career development needs.
3. Attention should be given on science of management and
developed scientific principles of management including
scientific classification of organizations, it may be useful to
categories ministers/ divisions into functional cluster. The
recommended clustering is based on broad functions. These are
enumerated below:
Executive: These organizations are entrusted with the
responsibility of directing, controlling and monitoring whole or
parts of the governmental machinery.
Regulatory: They are empowered to make rules and
regulations and oversee their enforcement.
Service-oriented/Welfare: They offer direct services of
various kinds of either the general population or special target
groups.
Development: They are involved in nation building tasks,
social and economic uplift and infrastructure development.
Promotional: They serve to promote a particular field of
activity in which the country made little progress in the past
or which needs further governmental entrepreneurships.
Staff/advisory: They are involved in activities, which are
auxiliary to the main purposes of advising the government on
the implications of policy making.
Research: They undertake detailed studies and examinations
to provide input into the policy making process and
governance
International: These organizations liaise and maintain
contacts with foreign countries and international organizations
or various aspects of social, political and economic affairs.
Recommendations of Public Administration Reform (PARC),

2000:
PARC was established in December 1996. It consisted of a chairman,
three full-time members and eleven part time members drawn from
within the government and outside. PARC was required to complete
its tasks within two years but the tenure was later extended to
November 30, 2000. The recommendations are as following:
1. It has reinvented the wheel in so far as it relates to career
planning based on clustering of functions. The recommended
clusters are:
General: Presidents Secretariat, Prime Ministers
Office,
Cabinet
Division,
Election
Commission,
Secretariat, Jatiyo Sangsad( National Parliament)
Secretariat, MOE, Defense, Food, Local Government,
Rural Development and cooperatives, Home, Land,
Information, Relief and Rehabilitation, Cultural Affair,
Religious Affair, Labor and Employment, and Chittagong
Hill Tracts Affairs.
Economic: Finance, Economic Relations, Internal
Resources,
Planning,
Statistics,
Implementation,
Monitoring and Evaluation, Commerce, Agriculture,
Fisheries and livestock, Forest and Environment,
Industries, Jute and Textiles.
Physical and social Infrastructures: Housing and
Works, Communications, Science and Technology, Power
Energy and Minerals, Water Transport, Social Welfare,
Women and Childrens Affairs, Youth and Sports, Post
and Telecommunications, Water Recourses, Education,
Primary
and Mass Education, Health and Family
Planning, Civil Aviation and Tourism.
2. To establish the concept of Senior Service Pool (SSP) as a
system for appropriate career planning for senior policy level
posts.
3. It introduced a new policy of diplomatic fields. The career path
of BCS (Foreign Affairs) cadre envisaged by the cadre rules is
limited in that it envisages only 50 percent of the posts of

Ambassadors to be filled up by the personnel of BCS (foreign
Affairs). Of the remaining 50 percent, 30 percent will be open
to member of other professionals including armed forces and
remaining 20 percent will be open to members of the Senior
Service Pool (SSP).
4. Performance monitoring and result oriented performance.
No implementation report till the end of the then government. The
government has paid attention to career planning in September 2003; a
career planning and training wing has been established in ministry of public
administration. The plan is to focus on career-based deployment from the
level of Deputy Secretary based on skill, experience and expertise. It is too
early to say how effective the wing will be in career planning and
management.
Problems of Career Planning in BCS:
Though career planning is consider to be an important aspect of civil service
management. It has not received the attention it deserves either within the
personnel management process of the government. Now I will mention the
multi level problems of BCS:
No detailed planned out structure:
Though career planning is an important issue in career management
system. But it is the reality of Bangladesh Civil Service that it is not based
on a detailed planned out structure that can ensure its members timely
rise in the career rope and guarantee equal opportunity for promotion on
the maturity of qualifying service.
1. Unequal Opportunity:
Although all BCS cadres deserve same quality but only a few member of
officers get chance to sit at the top. While majority of civil servant have
their service at mid or entry level. For this most of the officers feel
frustration and can not serve as the need.
2. Deprivation of Merit & Talent:
Training policy both external and internal needs to be substantially
reformulated and recast putting emphasis talent and merit rather than
seniority but reality is different. Talented and meritorious are deprived of the
opportunity.
3. Problem of placement:
Placement in the training institutes is a stigma in the civil service today.

There are innumerable instance that illustrates the fact that when there is
no other place for person to fit in with, he is definitely destined to go
dumped in a training institute. But in a reality dynamic civil service
system this should have been the opposite.
4. Rampant corruption & decreasing credibility:
Various reports including papers prepared by the World Bank, UNDP and
TIB indicate rampant corruption in the bureaucracy. This has permitted
the very texture of bureaucracy and has thus rocked the very foundation
of its credibility.
5. Dissatisfactory inducement & compensation:
The inducements and compensations that government pays to its
employees are not sufficient to fulfill their needs. If anybody is asked
about his payment he easily answer that it is very difficult to bear his
family with this limited salary and other inducements.
6. Lack of Motivation:
If there any motivation system in the civil service that push or pull them
forward against all and inspires them to remain honest. Controlling and
following order is only the system. Motivation is quite absurd here.
7. No Recognition of Service:
It is not less important than anything else: recognition & evaluation. While
dishonest officers enjoy better facilities, lucrative placement, greater
importance and reward under a false veil of honesty, how can a service
expect to produce honest officers?
8. Frequent Job rotation:
The World Bank Study (1996) relates career planning in civil service to job
rotation much frequently which impedes appropriate management of
career planning. It has concluded that job rotation is generally devoid of
considerations career management of professional development.
9. Partiality in Recruitment, Placement & Promotion:
Its a very common and ever known scenario of Bangladesh Civil Service
that recruitment, placement and promotion are influenced by politics &
nepotism. In the present situation almost no one get promotion without
the recommendations of political leader or political executives.
Recruitment and selection in BCS on the basis of last three

years data:
The first logical element of career service system is recruitment. Recruitment
is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them
to apply for jobs in the organization (Flippo and Edwin 1984: 141). It is the
process of searching manpower in sufficient number from which to select
capable and competent candidates for job vacancy. On the other hand,
selection is a process of hiking individuals who have necessary and relevant
qualifications to fill job in an organization.
The primary issues in the recruitment process are
Define job requirements

Determine selection methods, and
Attracting talents: Selection
Prepare for smooth induction and orientation
Here, the recruitment and selection process of BCS can be described on the
basis of following major parts.
Historical Background
Legal Framework for Recruitment to BCS
Regulatory Authority for Recruitment
Methods of Recruitment
Direct Recruitment Process in BCS by Competitive Examination
Recruitment on Merit and Quota system
Role and effect of quota system
Recruitment by gender
Historical Background
The importance of the bureaucracy dates back to the colonial period, when
the Indian Civil Service provided elite, educated, and dedicated body of
professional administrators. After the partition of India in 1947, when almost
all administrative organs had to be created afresh, both East Pakistan and
West Pakistan heavily relied on the managerial expertise of professional
managers from the old Indian Civil Service. When Bangladesh became
independent in 1971, the members of the civil service who joined the new
nation brought with them the heritage of the colonial system. This heritage
included administrative competence, which proved invaluable in running a
young Bangladesh and an expectation by the elite of benefits and power.
In mid-1988 the civil service was composed of twenty-eight separate
services. There were twenty grades, with promotion to higher grades based
on merit and seniority, dependent on annual confidential reports filed by the
individuals' supervisors. Recruitment to the civil service occurred through
open competition within a quota system.
Legal Framework for Recruitment to BCS
The Constitution of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh has granted the
equal employment opportunities for the public at all level. The constitutional
provisions relating to the Recruitment are
Article 29(1):
There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in

respect of employment or office in the service of the
Republic.
Regulatory Authority for Recruitment

In Bangladesh, there are two bodies who are directing over all recruitment
and selection process in BCS. The major two regulatory bodies for
recruitment are
Ministry of Public Administration(MoPA)

Public Service Commission(PSC)
Methods of Recruitment
The BCS is a broad based service with all its member cadres as class I
Gazetted officers. The PSC along with different ministries are liable to recruit
personnel in the BCS cadres. Basically, there are three types of recruitment
procedures to the different cadres of the BCS.
Direct Recruitment through open competitive examination.

Recruitment through promotion.
Recruitment through transfer or deputation.
Recruitment on the basis of Competitive Examination

Recruitment at the entry level is mainly done through direct recruitment. The
largest number of official are recruited by means of this procedure. The
procedure actually concerned with following stages
Need Assessment
Budget allocation for recruitment
Advertisement
Screening the application form
Preliminary Test
Written Test
Viva Voce
Medical Test
Need Assessment and Budget Allocation

The most important aspect of recruitment to BCS is the adequate
assessment of manpower allocation of function under the Rule 12 of the
Rules of Business, 1996.
The three basic functions relating to need assessment allotted to MOPA are
Review and revision of organ gram and equipment of the public offices
Periodical inception and review of staff position in ministries, divisions,
departments, attached and subordinate offices for optimum utilization
of manpower.
Compilation of data or statistics relating to civil employees for use by
the government for manpower planning.
The MOF is responsible for making necessary budget allotment for new posts
created. In BCS, the need actually assessed on the basis of two kinds of
posts-posts under Revenue Budget, standard set up of particular post or
position such as secretary, Additional secretary or Joint secretary and Posts
under Development Budget, manpower that are required to complete the
development projects.
Advertisement
After allocation of budget, the MOPA asks Public Service Commission (PSC) to
circulate through the newspaper. Then PSC gives advertisement through
newspaper and distributes forms through the Sonali Bank. The

advertisement thus made provides the following requirements:
Name of the post
Number of vacancies
Age limit
Grade of pay
Method of recruitment
Requirement of educational qualification
The advertisement notice for recruitment also lays down the terms and
conditions for the candidates. These relate to submission of nationality
certificate, documents of educational qualifications etc.
The advertisement also provides some other Salient features of the
recruitment rules which includes the followings
Appointment has to be made upon the recommendations of the PSC

Only the citizens of Bangladesh are eligible
Age limits from 21 to 30 years, but it is relaxed for health cadres,
freedom fighters and tribal. For them the limit is from 21 to 32.
The applicant must hold a second class bachelor degree and second
division in SSC and HSC.
After the collection of application form from the candidates, the information
and documents provided are checked and cross checked and the applications
are rejected that are incomplete and that have error.
Preliminary Test
The open competition for BCS examination for class 1 officer is based on the
following tests.
Preliminary Test
Written Test
Viva Voce
Medical Test
Among them the preliminary test is the first step towards the open
competition. Here, BPSC is responsible to conduct the preliminary test for the
selection of suitable person for the written test of class 1 officers with other
services examination.
Last three Preliminary Tests taken by PSC

Preliminary Test
30th BCS
29th BCS
28th BCS
Date
08/03/2010
14/08/2009
28/11/2008
Written Test
Those who will pass the preliminary test should take part in the written test.
According to Second Schedule of BCS Recruitment Rule 1981, BCS
examination consisted of 1,600 marks. But it was reduced to 900 marks in
1984; and again it was 7 increased to 1000 (Ali, 2007:61-62), which is still
going on. However the subjects and marks of BCS examination are shown in
Table below.
Subjects for general

cadres
General Bangla
General English
Bangladesh Affairs
International Affairs
Mathematical
Reasoning and
Mental Ability
General Science &
Technology
Viva
Total
Mark Subjects for

s
professional/technic
al cadres
200
General Bangla
200
General English
200
Bangladesh Affairs
100
International Affairs
100
Mathematical
Reasoning and
Mental Ability
100
Two Papers for post
Related subject
200
Viva
1100 Total
Mark
s
200
200
200
100
100
200
200
1200
Table: Showing the Subjects of BCS Written Examination and Viva

along with Mark
The recruitment process of Bangladesh Civil Service: an overview
The first recruitment policy was announced in September 1972. It introduced

quota system and accordingly, 20 per cent posts were to be filled by the
merit, 10 per cent by the women, 30 per cent freedom fighters, 10 per cent
by the affected women and 10 per cent by the Division and District according
to the population. The MOPA modified the system in 1976 specifying 40 per
cent as merit quota, and 10 percent women quota subject to merit
qualification. It also provided that if no suitable candidate was found for
district quota, divisional quota would apply. Moreover, district quota was
relaxed for the posts in case of non-availability of the qualified candidates
from the district concerned. In February 1980, the system was further
modified specifying 5 per cent quota for women in place of earlier 10
percent. In this modified system, 5 per cent quota was also provided for the
candidates of tribal areas. In1998, 30 per cent freedom fighters' quota is
abolished and it has been allocated for children of freedom fighters.
Recently, a further development has been taken place that if suitable
candidates are not found to fill the 30 per cent children of freedom fighters,
the posts will be absorbed through merit based recruitment (PSC, 2004; 1314). The current recruitment system of Bangladesh Civil Service is that the
MOPA collects the number of vacant posts from respective ministries and
agencies, and then the MOPA transmits the same to the BPSC for
administering the recruitment operation. After receiving the requisition from
the MOPA, the BPSC advertises the number of vacant posts through the
newspapers inviting eligible candidates to apply against the available posts
(GOB, 2005). All the eligible candidates have to appear at a preliminary test.
Only the qualified candidates in the preliminary test are invited to appear in
the written test. "The candidates, who are able to obtain 45 per cent marks
in the written test, are qualified for the viva-voce exam. If any candidate fails
to pass, s/he will not be considered for final selection. A merit list is prepared
after adding the marks of the written test and viva. The candidates are
selected according to the government rules by calculating the different
numbers of quota" (GOB, 2005). Admission to different cadres of the BCS is
open to candidates with at least first degree from a university of Bangladesh
or abroad. The minimum age limit has been set at 21 and the maximum at
30 years. A non-citizen or one who is married to a foreign citizen is
disqualified from applying for position in the civil service. A candidate has to
specify his choice of preference of service in the application beforehand.
Selection is determined rating with the marks the candidate attains in the
written examination and viva-voce test.
Seri
al
No.
Name of
Examinati
on
No. of Vacancies
Preliminary Test
Written Test
28th
BCS
Viva
Voce
Recommenda
tion of
Commission
No. of
Recruitme
nt
attende
d
passe
d
attend
ed
pass
ed
1720
12094
6
1178
5
1048
3
588
1
578
3
2190
2082
29th
BCS
1581
12394
9
1353
6
1137
0
721
7
652
3
4062
1480
30th
BCS
2367
14739
5
9059
864
0
2367
5810
Table: Showing the recruitment by preliminary test and Written

Examination data of last three years
Recruitment on Merit and recruitment by Quota
After independence, the Government of Bangladesh had found that not only
women but ethnics, religious groups and some of the regions were under
represented in Bangladesh civil service. Thats why government initiated
quota system with the recruitment on merit. since after independence of
Bangladesh in 1971 till to date recruitment policy to civil service including
BCS has been dominating by different types of quota. However quota is
distributed among the candidates on the basis of merit in their respective
groups. After independence of Bangladesh till 1976 only 20 percent of civil
officers were recruited on merit. In 1976 recruitment on merit increased from
20 to 40 percent and in 1985 merit became 45 percent which is still going
on. In other words, from 1985 till to date for 24 years there has been no
change in merit policy for civil service recruitment. It may be mentioned that
in the case of Class 111 and 1V employees, there is no national merit policy
and they are recruited district-wise. Of the employees 30 percent are
reserved for freedom fighters/their wards, 15 percent for women, 10 percent
for orphan and disabled, 10 percent for Ansars and VDPs, 5 percent for tribal
people; and the rest 30 percent are reserved for general district merit. The
main argument for not prescribing merit in the case of Class 111 & 1V
employees is that their jobs are unskilled and it is very difficult to measure
the merits of candidates for such jobs.
Type of Quota
Merit (outside District
quota)
Physically
handicapped/Mentally
retarded
District Quota(on the
basis of population)
Freedom fighters
Women
Tribal
Ansars/Village
Defense Members
Remaining(for the
general
candidates of the
district)
Class I & II Posts

45
Total
Class III & IV Post
10
30
10
05
30
15
05
10
10
30
100
100
Role and Effect of Quota System

The interim recruitment policy, 1972 guided recruitment to various services
and posts. In 1976, recruitment rules for appointment to superior posts were
formed. The major thirst of the policy was to achieve more equitable
representation of the people of all districts of Bangladesh. But there are
inconsistencies between the constitution and the government decrees on
quota. The main inconsistencies includes
The legal principle that exceptions (like quota) shall not exceed general
principle was dishonored by preserving 55 percent posts for various
quotas.
The constitution permits quota in favor of backward sections of the
citizens. The district quota system prescribed proportional
representation of regions in the public services. It has no necessary
relationship with backwardness of people as warranted by constitution.
The quota for the wards of freedom fighters through sacrificed by a

wave of sympathy and gratitude has not a legal leg to stand on unless
the beneficiaries are proved to be disadvantaged. Furthermore,
earmarking 30% posts for this category that constitutes less than one
percent of population is inconsistent with the constitutional principle of
adequate representation as the justification of reservation for preferred
groups.
There is no time limit for any of the quotas. The high court division of
Bangladesh Supreme Court in writ petition 3304 of 2003 maintained
that no quota system should be a definite time limit for each quota.
The existing 55% of non-merit quota system in BCS violates the Article 29 of
our constitution which speaks only about under privileged group. But 30%
quota for freedom fighters or their offspring, 10% for district and 10% for
women are not included in under privileged group. The number of women in
BCS on merit basis is increasing rapidly. They are performing so well in the
competitive examinations. As a result, such kind of reservation is likely to be
an obstacle rather than a special facility for them. The 10% district quota has
been set considering the population volume of the districts. Candidates of
overcrowded districts get the privilege of the districts quota, while those of
less populated districts are deprived. The quota for freedom fighters is
disproportionately larger than their share in population, and this is why,
adequate candidates from this category are not available. As a result,
candidates whose performance is poorest in comparison with other quota
categories fill up the posts in the category of freedom fighters. The present
quota for tribal candidates are not adequate and these quota hindrances
their participation in BCS. As a result, they would not get jobs even their
performance is better than other quota candidates from the district.
Recruitment by Gender
Here we have the opportunity to look at the data on the women participation
in BCS through the mirror of BCS recruitment and posting of various cadres.
28th BCS
Division
No. of
qualified
candidates
No.
Succeeded in
Preliminary
Examination
No.
Succeeded in
Written
Examination
No.
Recommende
d
male
Dhaka
Rajshahi
Chittagong
Khulna
Barisal
Sylhet
Total
22,12
7
19.21
%
2287
8
19.87
%
1370
1
11.90
%
1341
2
11.65
%
5416
4.70
%
1905
1.65
%
7943
9
68.98
%
femal
e
11,91
7
10.35
%
9225
8.01%
male
2744
23.30
%
femal
e
832
7.06
male
1448
24.62
%
femal
e
459
7.81
%
male
493
22.51
%
Fema
le
267
12.19
%
2557
21.71
%
619
1149
5.26% 19.54
%
277
4.71
%
361
16.48
%
137
6.2%
6341
1475
5.51% 12.52
%
402
839
3.41% 14.27
%
230
3.91
%
313
14.29
%
120
5.48
%
5042
4.38
367
743
3.12% 12.64
%
155
2.64
%
211
9.63
%
73
3.33
%
2307
651
2.00% 5.53%
185
342
1.57% 5.82%
892
.77%
51
.43%
97
1.65%
114
1.94
%
28
.48%
55
2.51
%
18
.8%
2456
20.85
%
4618
78.52
%
1263
21.48
%
100
4.57
%
42
1.92
%
1520
69.41
%
1724
14.64
%
171
1.45%
35724 9322
31.02 79.15
%
%
670
30.59
%
27th BCS
Male
Female
No of qualified No passed
candidates
Preliminary
Examination
71.26%
82.18%
28.74%
17.82%
No passed
Written
Examination
82.49%
17.51%
No.
recommend
ed
74.62%
25.38%
Following two tables show that in both the BCS examination one fourth are
the female member appointed in Bangladesh civil service. It can be inferred
that the female participation or the nominated percentage of female in the
BCS examination have not increased significantly. Such data shows that
womens representation is not satisfactory enough to ensure the womens

empowerment.
Transfer in BCS
In BCS, much attention has been devoted to recruitment and selection that
takes a long time to round of the processing cycle, less attention is put on
transfer to various position of the government. There should be some system
for transferring the government officials to any particular position. There is a
provision of the government officials to transfer from one working place to
another after completion of three years of services. But unfortunately, the
policies regarding transfer are not worked in practice. Most of the transfer of
the BCS officials took part on an ad hoc basis. And there is no routine data
found from the authorized body of transfer-the Senior Appointment and
Transfer-1 of the MOPA.
Problems
There is no up to date recruitment policy followed by the government. The
recruitment policy of 1982 is still followed by the government with some
modifications only.
The long time taken to recruit is another dimension of recruitment problem.
Furthermore, a large number of applicants appear at the examination that
makes it difficult to conduct the examination more effectively. Though all the
cadres are recruited at the same level, they do not have the same chances
for career mobility and job enrichment. Every government have the tendency
to make the BCS in favor of them which is seen through the corruption in
recruitment, selection and transfer process. The major problem regarding
recruitment is the problem of quota system. There is lack of transparency
and accountability in terms of the utilization of the quotas in different posts.
The quota system create the chance to corrupt in the recruitment system as
a result, the real suppressed groups are deprived from getting any type of
facilities. At present, there are no more freedom fighters of eligible age, after
40 years of independence. Now a days, the 30% quota has been allocated to
their children. This is only a Pandora box and makes things extremely difficult
for employees to administer. Moreover, such provision of quotas discourages
many brilliant candidates to join in the civil service as there is no more pride
to enter on merit. That increase inefficiency in the service delivery of the civil
services.
Recommendations
PSC is the concerned authority at entry level recruitment in BCS. So a
transparent and efficient PSC is important to make the recruitment system
more effective. BPSC should be unquestionably free from political influence,
works closely, openly and cooperatively with other stakeholders, at both
operational and strategic levels to maximize the human resource
development and management potential within civil service. Excessive
domination over PSC from MOPA makes it difficult to conduct the recruitment
system accurately. So the control of MOPA should be restricted. The
recruitment should be based on merit rather than quotas. The quota system
should be revised and a more practical percentage of quotas should be fixed
up.
References
Annual Reports of BPSC

AMM Swakat ali
Promotion in BCS on the basis of last three years data:

Promotion program is one of the most important aspects of personnel
management to keep the employees disciplined, efficient in service.
Promotion is a reward to an employee which includes change and
development in his position, salary and status.
Promotion by merit and seniority in Bangladesh in Civil Service
In the civil service system, three elements are given consideration for
promotion to higher positions. These three elements are:
Seniority
Merit; and
Adherence to rules of conduct or good conduct.
The reliance on the above elements has its ups and downs. It is necessary to
trace the origins of such elements and the extent to which these changed
over time or have not changed at all.
The historical antecedents of evaluating performance of civil servants as a
means to determine their suitability for promotion dates back to the colonial
days .Initially, the principle followed was seniority. In 1833, the Charter Act
relating to the administration of India introduced some new principles, which
gave more weight to competence and performance than to merit (Misra,
1970). Under this act, the EICs civil service came under much stricter
disciplinary control of the Government of India.
On January 28, 1834, the Governor-General in Council passed an order that
laid down principles of promotion. This order tended to discard the age-old
principle of seniority being the only basis of promotion. The order
emphasized merit and made room for juniors to supersede the seniors. This
principle, per se , is supportive of meritocracy but must always be
transparently administered. If the evaluation of merit is not based on
objectivity and dispassion, any departure from the seniority principle can
result in great deal of mischief.
To operationalize the principle of determining merit or competence, it was
necessary to gather information on the competence, character and
qualifications of civil servants. The decision was, therefore, taken that every
controlling officer should publicly report on half yearly basis upon the
conduct, character and qualifications of their subordinates. The superior
officers would review the reports and submit the same to the government
with their opinion.
In case of failure to report on any misconduct, the superior officer was held
responsible for any effect of such misconduct. Initially, the report used to be
called character roll and it was not either confidential or secret. However, it
became Secret following a decision by the Governor-General in Council in
1835 (Misra, 1970). Later, it was classified s confidential and the reports
came to be known as ACR.
The method thus introduced became firmly embedded in the system of civil
service, management with some modifications from time to time. In course
of time, seniority and merit combined the two principles for promotion
prospects, although the Court of Directors of the EIC objected to the system
of confidential reporting in 1836.
During the Governor-General of Lord Auckland, the system of reporting on

individual civil servants was replaced by annual returns based on the volume
f business performed severally by each of the subordinate and superior
officers. Later, in November 1836, every controlling officer, before leaving his
place of duty on transfer, was required to record a memorandum containing
his assessment of the official character of his subordinates. The intention
was to enable his successor to indicate his own assessment at the time of
preparing annual reports/returns.
The memorandum for the successor came to be known as the Note to
Successor. This system continued up to the end of Pakistan era i.e. 1971.
However, this was no substitute for the confidential report on the
assessment of the performance of individual officer. During Pakistan era both
the system continued.
In this context, it is necessary to explain how the two elements operate in
the determination of the suitability of a civil servant for promotion to higher
positions.
Seniority
Seniority is an immutable element in the sense that it cannot be changed by
any authority except through due process of law. Seniority has a close
relationship with the year of entry. However, other considerations such as the
relative position in the competitive examinations held for entry into civil
service plus the marks obtained in the training institutions during period of
probation are also important elements that determine seniority. The year of
entry is popularly known as batch of so and so year. The general principle
is that cases of promotions are consideration batch by batch. The senior
batches are considered first.
Principles of seniority inter se of the members of a service Cadre.The seniority inter se of the members of a Service Cadre of the Bangladesh
Civil Service shall be determined in accordance with the following principles,
namely:(a) Seniority inter se of the members of a Service, which was not earlier
organized on junior and senior scale arrangements, shall be counted from
the date of regular appointment in the lowest post of that Service.
(b) Seniority inter se of the members of a service, which was earlier

organized on junior and senior scale arrangements and under which
promotes were directly promoted to the senior scale, shall be counted from
the date of continuous officiating in the senior scale.
(c) Seniority inter se of the members of a service, which was earlier
organized on junior and senior scale arrangements and under which the
promotes were promoted to the junior scale, shall be counted from the date
of continuous officiating in the junior scale.
(d) Seniority inter se of lateral entrants to a service Cadre shall be counted
from the date of their appointment to the scale of pay they were drawing at
the time of their appointment to such service Cadre.
(e) Seniority inter se of the future appointees to a service Cadre, where there
is no provision for lateral entry at higher levels, shall be counted from the
date of their appointment to the lowest specified post in the service Cadre.
(f) Seniority inter se of the future appointees to a service Cadre, where there
is provision for lateral entry at higher levels, shall be counted from the date
of appointment on regular basis to the relevant specified post.
Merit
Merit is determined on the basis of the ACR. ACR provides the overall
assessment of a civil servant. It gives specific opinion on the suitability or
otherwise of a civil servant for promotion to higher positions. ACR further
provides assessment with regard to a civil servants moral and intellectual
integrity. If the assessment is adverse, possibilities for promotion are badly
affected.
Test /Examination through BPSC (Assistant Secretary to Senior
Assistant Secretary)
Responsible body: Public Service Commission
Dealing Grade: Assistant Secretary to Senior Assistant Secretary
Promotion from junior scale to senior scale constitutes the primary stage for
movement upwards. Promotion to the senior scale is contingent on a
qualifying examination called
Bangladesh Civil Service Cadre Officers Senior Scale Promotion

Examination
Conduct of examination.- (1) The Commission shall conduct an
examination for promotion of the members of a Service to the Modified New
Scale of Pay of Taka 2800-4425 and such examination shall be conducted
twice in a calendar year:
Provided that there shall be an interval of at least five months between the
two examinations and they shall preferably be held in the months of
February and August.
(2) The examination under sub-rule (1) shall be held
at Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna:
Provided that if, in the opinion of the Commission, the number of candidates
at any particular place does not justify the holding of examination there, the
examination may be held at any other place mentioned above as may be
decided by the Commission.
4. Schedule of examination.- Schedule of examination showing the date,
time, place of examination and such other particulars as may be considered
necessary shall be announced by the Commission at least sixty days before
the date of the examination through the press and other information media
and copies of such schedules shall simultaneously be forwarded to Ministries
and Divisions controlling the Services.
5. Eligibility, etc.- (1) No officer shall be eligible to sit for the examination
unless he has been confirmed and has completed four years of service in the
cadre to which he belongs.
(2) A candidate may sit for all the three subjects
specified in rule 7 at a time or for any less number of
subjects in an examination.
(3) No officer shall be allowed to take part in more
than one examination in a calendar year and in total
more than three examinations within a period of nine
years of his service in the cadre.
(4) An officer failing to pass in all the three subjects

within the period of ninth year of his service in
accordance with the provisions of the preceding subrules may appear in three more examinations in
successive three years after a gap of two years from
the date commencing after his ninth year of service
and, in case of his failure in these examinations, he
shall not be allowed any further chance to appear in
any examination.
6. Submission of application- (1) A candidate shall submit his application
for an examination to the Ministry or Division controlling the Service to which
he belongs complying all such requirements as may be determined by the
Commission.
(2) The concerned Ministries and Divisions shall
furnish a list of eligible candidates to the
Commission, showing their subject and place of
examination, at least fifteen days before the date of
holding the examination along with applications
complete in all respects.
7. Subjects of examination.- (1) There shall be three papers for written
examination on the following subjects, namely:(a) one paper on Bangladesh and current
affairs;
(b) one paper on Laws, Rules and
Regulations applicable to all Government
offices; and
(c) one paper on matters relating to the
functions of the members in their
respective cadre.
(2) Details of syllabus for each paper shall be
prescribed by the Government issued, by order, in
this behalf from time to time.
(3) Each paper shall be of one hundred marks to be

answered within three hours duration.
(4) The minimum pass marks shall be fifty per cent in
each paper.
Senior Scale Promotion Examination February2008
Description
Number of Applicants
2246
Number of eligible applicant
2163
Date f Examination
17-02-08
Date of last Examination
02-03-08
Eligible in 1st paper
1234
Eligible in 2nd paper
1234
Eligible in 3rd paper
1202
Appeared in 1st paper
1109
Appeared in 2nd paper
1102
Appeared in 3rd paper
1068
Promoted in 1st paper
826
Promoted in 2nd paper
615
Promoted in 3rd paper
908
Senior Scale Promotion Examination August 2008

Description
1711
1648
Date f Examination
18-8-2008
23-8-2008
1534
1522
1522
639
793
526

Senior Scale Promotion Examination February 2009
Description
1580
1502
Date f Examination
13-3-2009
22-3-2009

494
733
490
337
384
403

Description
2859
2709
Date f Examination
28-8-2009
7-9-2009

1796
2003
1743
1432
1325
1397
Senior Scale Promotion Examination February 2010
Description
3355
3113
Date f Examination
26-2-10
8-3-10
2787
2949
2844
1602
1914
1591
1442
1195
1296

Description
3416
3196
Date f Examination
17-9-10
24-9-10
2624
2818
2807
860
1306
1001
761
809
832
Role of Departmental Promotion Committee, Superior Selection

Board (SSB) & Council Committee
Departmental Promotion Committee
Departmental Promotion Committee is responsible for the promotion to the
senior position within the cadre. This committee is consisted of
Chairman-Relevant secretary
Member- Joint Secretary of Finance Ministry and Joint Secretary of
public Administration and head of the department.
Superior Selection Board (SSB) & Council Committee
In 1972, this Board was formed. It was abolished after 1991 and revived
again during the second half of the nineties following a High Court verdict.
The SSB was earlier supplanted by what is known as the Council Committee
on Superior Appointment and Promotion consisting of Ministers. The
SSB/Council Committee would recommend cases for promotion to Grade
and above. The recommendation has to be finally approved by the Prime
Minister or the Head of Government. The system thus is highly centralized.
SSB now consists of the Cabinet Secretary as Chairmen. Members of the
Board are:
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

Comptroller and Auditor General
Law Secretary
Home Secretary and
Public Administration Secretary who is also the Secretary to the
committee
The Secretary of a Ministry has to propose promotions to eligible
officers in a prescribed form. He has to attend the meeting of the
Board in person to answer any questions raised by the members of the
Board.
In considering cases of promotion, SSB follows more or less the same
procedures as DPC: the scores in ACR, adverse remarks, Departmental
cases and corruption cases. SSB also considers cases for appointment
to Deputy and Joint Secretaries from other cadres or those to be
appointed on contract.
In respect of selection for appointments to the position of Deputy
Secretary from different cadres. SSB makes recommendations on the
basis of a quota reservation system. The quota reservation is shown in
the following table:
Positions
Length of
service as a
condition of
Eligibility
Deputy
Secretary
10 years
service with
5 years
service in the
Senior Scale
15 years
70
service with
5 years
service as
Deputy
Secretary
20 years
70
service in the
cadre with
Joint
Secretary
Additional
Secretary
Quota
Allocated for
BCS
(Administratio
n) in
Percentage
75
Quota
Allocated for
Other Cadres
(Percentage)
Rate in ACR
(Percentage)
25
80
30
85
30
85
minimum 3
years as Joint
secretary
Secretary
22 years
service in the
_____
_____
cadre with 5
years in
Secretariat
post and 2
years as
Additional
Secretary
Source: Public Administration Ministry Notification No EM/SA-4/21/94(Part2)/29, February 10, 1998
_____
Recommendations
Introduction of the effective civil service act without any delay.
Quota reservation in promotion system should be abolished.
Politicization in promotion should be stopped or introduction of
spoil system
Promotion examination up to Deputy Secretary under PSC should
be established
Merit should only be the criteria of promotion
Qualified candidates should be introduced in designing
appropriate mechanism to evaluate performance
There needs to be a self change in the attitude of the civil
servants towards promotion
Efficiency bar of promotion should be reformed
The SSB and Cabinet Committee should be clearly documented
and transparent
A new selection Board of promotion should be introduced
According to Gladden, An effective system of promotion thus has
to achieve 3 most important goals:
I. To select the best man for the higher position
II.
To satisfy those to whom it is applied that is fair and just.
III.
To achieve a creative influence on whole staff structure.
[Source: Gladden, Civil Service or bureaucracy]
Bibliography, References
Ali.A M M Shawkat (1993) Aspects of Public

Administration, Nikhil Prokashoni
Ali.A M M Shawkat (2002) The Lore of the Mandarins
Towards a Non Partisan Public
The Ministry of Public administration (1995) The
Establishment Manual
Misra.B.B (1970) The Administrative History of India
1934-1947.OXFORD University Press
Last three years Annual report of Public service
commission
Table: Promotion In Deputy Secretary and above from

November, 2009 to November, 2011
Year
Secretary
2009
2010
2011
29
18
13
Additional
Secretary
135
00
31
Joint
Secretary
254
163
05
Deputy
Secretary
279
307
09
Training in BCS on the basis of last three years data:

In recent years the significance of a sound and effective system of
public administration has received as catalysts of change and development
and are called upon to increasing administrative and development roles.
Training is, perhaps the most useful device for enhancing the knowledge,
skills and capabilities of administrators to accomplish their tasks efficiently. It
is an important instrument which helps to inculcate tight values and
attitudes among civil servants and keep them abreast with ensure the
continued quality of public administration, the administration adaptability to
change and their ability to grapes contemporary social and economic
problems. Today it has come to be regarded as vital for administrative action
and a precondition for national development (Khan and Zafarullah 1980:369)
Conceptualizing the term Training:
Generally training is defined as an action process by which the

capabilities of personnel can be improved to meet the organizational needs
in terms of their knowledge, skills and attitudes required in performing
organizational tasks and functions within relatively short period of time.
With particular reference to public service, Training is a reciprocal process of
teaching and learning a body of knowledge and other related methods of
work (UN1966)
Types of Training:
Usually training is divided into three broad categories:
1.Pre-entry training: The term pre entry training is commonly used to
designate instructions by the individual before the original appointment as
a civil servant includes all the general education received in schools or
university as well as special or technical education qualifying the individual
to be by a government incapacity such as engineer, agricultural specialist or
2. On the job training: It is training in the actual work situation and is
directly related to the work of an individual. It is defined as the instruction
received by public servants informal manner from colleagues of greater
experience or higher rank. For many the job situation an experienced officer
supervises the work of his subordinate and helps him by pointing out his
mistakes and demonstrating or explaining how to perform the work
effectively.
3. In service training. : service training is a form of training which is
imparted to a person after he has actually entered government but in an off
the job setting with a view to supplementing his basic knowledge or to
perfect skills needed in discharging his duties properly.
The history of Training endeavors in British and Pakistan Era:
The history of systematic training in Public Administration in Bangladesh
dates back to the 18 century
l. Fort William College: Lord Wellesley established the college with a view
to impart training to the officials of East India Company. .1 the scheme was
short lived.
2. Haileybury College: In this college different training schemes were
serious consideration of training public servants came only after August
1947.
3. Civil Service Academy, GOTA, NJP. administrative Staff College: To

train up the young recruits of deterrent services the civil service academy
was established at Lahore For training of the province civil servants Officers
Training Academy (GOTA) was set up in Dhaka: In 1961 three centers of the
National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) were set up at Dhaka,
Karachi and Lahore mainly to impart public administration training to the mid
level officers of central and provincial governments, autonomous and local
bodies. The in service training of the smear public savants was the
responsibility of Pakistan Administrative Staff College established in Labor.
Training endeavors in Bangladesh Era:
Since most of the tritium Institutions establish dune the Pakistan
periodic located in West Pakistan, at independence Bangladesh inherited
only Iowa training institutions and To until the training facilities, by
amalgamating NIPA and GOTA the Civil Service Training Academy was
established in 1973. But CSTA was again split into two separate training
institutions. CSTA was renamed as Civil Officers raining Academy (COTA) and
while NIPA continued with same name. To cater for the training needs of the
senior administrators, another training institute; Bangladesh Administrative
Staff College in 1977 as an apex institution. In order to rationalize the
training system and also to ensure economy and office . in l the government
I NI PA, COTA and UASC to form the Public Administrate Training Com
PICX.LPATC alert renamed as Bangladesh Public Administration !lauui1
Center. (BPATC) is entrusted with the responsibility of imparting training to
officers of all categories.
In 1981 GOB constituted a broad based national body known as National
Training Council. the Nils is primarily responsible for
formulating
comprehensive training policies and coordinating training In order to
synchronize the efforts of dif Brent training institutions and to make train:
cravenly to the process of national development, a National Training Policy
was formulated in 1986 Pt is a comprehensive document which outlines the
objectives and Priorities of public service training and provides guidelines for
the preparation of training plans.(GOB I 986 It covers the pre service and in
serviced government employee to grades 1-19 of the National Pay Scales.
Introduction of BPATC
Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) has been at
the forefront of the development of public sector executives of the country. It
was established in 1984 under the Ordinance of Bangladesh Public
Administration Training Centre Ordinance (Ordinance No. XXVI of 1984) by

amalgamating the existing institutions viz. NIPA, COTA, BASC and STI. Under
the Ordinance of 1984 the government issued a Notification (No. SRO-1051L/84 MR(II)/PATC-8/83 part-I) on 18 April 1984 which was enacted on 28 April
1984 to begin its activities.
Functions of BPATC
According to Section-VI of the BPATC Ordinance, the major functions of
the Centre are:
a. To conduct training for senior executive officials of the government of
Bangladesh and business institution so that they may play effective roles in a
dynamic and developing society;
b. To provide on-the-job training for the employees of the republic and the
people who work under local authority;
c. To conduct foundation training for different Civil Service Cadre officials of
Bangladesh;
d. To conduct research/case study on public administration & development;
e. To publish books, journals & reports relating to administration &
development;
f. To establish and maintain libraries and reading rooms;
g. To provide consultancy to the government, if and when necessary,
regarding administration and development to solve specific problems; and
h. To do other necessary activities to implement the objectives of the
Ordinance.
Annual Report 16
BPATC arranges different training courses, seminars, workshops other
than scheduled ones on request of different organizations. It also provides
consultancy services to different organizations in conducting training
courses, seminars and workshops.
The courses conducted by BPATC can be categorized into 4, viz.
A) Career Development Courses;
B) Short Specialized Courses;
C) Refreshers' Programs; and

D) Other Courses.
Career development courses:
A) Foundation Training Course (FTC)
B) Advanced Course on Administration & Development (ACAD)
C) Senior Staff Course (SSC)
The new entrants to the Bangladesh Civil Service, Deputy Secretaries and
Joint
Secretaries participate in the above courses respectively.
Short specialized courses are conducted for development of the efficiency of
different level officials in specific fields.
The brochure is improved in the light of the knowledge attained from
refreshers' courses as well as from field level. The other courses are
arranged on special request. Courses held in the training year 2009-2010,
seminars/workshops held in 2009-2010 and comparative statement of
training activities (1984-85 to 2009-2010)
BPATC has been training the officers of government, autonomous and nongovernment organizations. Among the courses conducted by the Centre for
the civil servants, three are worth presenting.
The Foundation Training Course is for the new entrants to the
Bangladesh Civil Service
Advanced Course on Administration and Development (ACAD) is for the
Deputy Secretaries and their equivalents; and
Senior Staff Course (SSC) for the Joint Secretaries and their
equivalents.
Senior Staff Course
It is meant for joint secretaries to the government and equivalents of other
public sector organizations. The duration of the training is two and a half
months. The objectives of the courses are to:
Create a congenial atmosphere of academic pursuit by putting

together participants with diverse background and work experiences;
Provide an open forum for free and frank exchange of knowledge,
ideas, and experiences for understanding their roles as a practitioner,
policy maker and implementer of different plans, projects and
programs in the countrys administrative process.
Training Methodology
Lectures and discussion;
Syndicate/group discussion/workshop;
Role play/simulation/brain storming;
Study tour/field trip;
Seminar paper presentation;
Film show/video;
Extension lectures;
Sl. Name of the
Duration
Targete
Actual
NO Courses
d No. of
No. of
.
particip particip
ant
ant
1.
51st Senior
11/10/2009
25
21
Staff
to
Course
24/12/2009
nd
2.
52
Senior
07/02/2010
25
19
Staff
to
Course
22/04/2010
Total
50
40
Achievem
ent in
Percentag
e
70
Achiev
ed
manmonth
52.50
63.33
47.50
133.33
100.00
Advanced Course on Administration and Development (ACAD)

The course is designed for civil servants of the rank of Deputy Secretaries.
The duration of the course is 75 days including weekly and public holidays.
The objectives of the course are to:
Formulate customer focused, gender balanced and environmentfriendly development policies, programs and strategies;
Asses personal leadership, behavioral strengths and weaknesses and
promote interpersonal relations in administration;
Use information communication technology (ICT); and
Update their communication skills in English.

Sl.
NO
.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Practical exercise;
Cade study;
Seminar;
Syndicate work;
Field visit etc.
Name of the Courses
66th Advanced Course

on Administration &
Development
on Administration &
Development
on Administration &
Development
on Administration &
Development
1st Special Advanced
Course on
Administration &
Development
2nd Special Advanced
Course on
Administration &
Development
on Administration &
Development
71st Advanced Course
on Administration &
Development
Duration
Target
ed No.
of
partici
pant
Actual
No. of
partici
pant
Achi
eved
manmont
h
29
Achi
eve
men
t in
Perc
enta
ge
97
05/07/2009
to
17/09/2009
26/07/2009
to
08/10/2009
25/10/2009
to
07/01/2009
22/11/2009
to
04/02/2010
29/09/2009
to
12/11/2009
25
25
27
90
67.5
0
25
23
62.1
6
57.5
0
25
24
73
60.0
0
25
28
93.3
3
42.0
0
17/01/2010
to
02/03/2010
25
27
90
40.5
0
14/02/2010
to
03/03/2010
14/03/2010
to
27/04/2010
25
26
88
65.0
0
25
25
84
62.5
0
72.5
0
Total
200
209
84.6 467.
8
5
Foundation Training Course

Build positive attitude among the officers so that they can create a
congenial environment for peoples participations in all development
activities;
Help them acquire skills and techniques of modern management;
Equip them with knowledge and skills of computer applications at their
individual workplaces; and
Library work;
Case study;
References:
Annual report of 2009-2010, BPATC
Training index of BPATC
Civil service cadre in BPATC
Role of central personnel agencies :executive body and

constitutional body:
Ministry of Public Administration
Ministry of Public Administration (MoPA) is responsible for personnel policy
within the Bangladesh Civil Service and also has direct responsibility for a
number of key HR and organizational management functions, particularly in
relation to officers of the Administrative cadre that comprises the higherlevel civil service. The overall purposes of the Ministry of Establishment are
to: (1) ensure Ministers are supported by inappropriately trained and
experienced secretariat of higher-level civil servants; (2)maintain the
extensive public administration of Bangladesh based on a network of District
and Divisional Commissioners, known as the field service; (3) ensure that
civil servants in the Secretariat and Service Directorates are appropriately
trained; and (4) to decide and enforce personnel policy, systems, rules and
regulations for the
Administrative cadre and the wider civil service

The Secretary, MoPA is appointed by, and accountable to, the Prime Minister
as she holds the Establishment portfolio. The Secretary is supported by an
additional Secretary and five Joint Secretaries with responsibilities for six
administrative wings (administration; appointments postings and deputation;
career planning and training; discipline and enquiry; regulation; and
organization and management).
The ministry is composed of the following wings:
1. Administration wing (Admin-W)
2. The Appointment, Promotion and Deputation Wing (APD-W)
3. The Career Planning Wing (CPT-W)
4. The Regulations Wing
5. The Discipline and Law Wing
6. The Organization and Management Wing (O & M-wing)
Roles of MOPA
1. Overall internal administration of the Ministry of Public Administration;
2. Transfer/posting of Senior Assistant Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries
in different ministries and divisions.
3. Settlement of payments of the retired and deceased members of the
officers and staff under the administrative control of the MOPA;
4. Audit compliance,
5. Preparation of budget of the Ministry and of attached departments, etc.
6. Budget of Ministry of Finance and its control.
7. Personnel matters of all officers of Administration cadre, and officers of
other cadres and non-cadre officers appointed Deputy Secretary and above
to the government etc.
8. Placement of officers of different levels for field administration;
9. Promotion of officers at higher levels;
10. Foreign and local appointments;

11. TheMaintenance of the Personnel Management Information System
(PMIS) of the officers at the levels of Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint
Secretary, Deputy Secretary and officers belonging to Bangladesh Civil
Service (Administration) cadre; and also the officers of other cadres from
Deputy Secretaries and above
12. Career Planning of the officers of the Administration cadre and officers at
the level of Deputy Secretary and above;
13. Disciplinary procedures regarding all officers under administrative control
of the Ministry of Public Administration.
14. To provide clearance for the officers under the control of the Ministry of
Public
15. Administration in respect of promotion, time-scale/ selection grade,
foreign training, foreign posting, payment of retirement benefit etc.;
16. To provide opinion on disciplinary issues to other Ministries/divisions;
17. To represent the government before the Court matters and issues
concerning service;
18. Appointment and transfer of officers in Upazilas, Districts and Divisions.
19. All matters relating to Recruitment Rules for all services and posts under
the Republic.
20. Nomination of government servants to work as experts/consultants in
projects and jobs at home and abroad.
21. Nomination of government servants in jobs in UN system and into its
various agencies as national representative.
22. Administrative research, management and reforms for better and
economic execution of government business.
23. Review and revision of the tables of Organ gram and Equipment of public
offices.
24. Review of organizations, functions, methods and procedures of Ministries,
Divisions,
Departments, attached offices and subordinate offices.
25. Simplifications of systems, procedures and forms.
26. Secretariat Instructions.
27. Periodic inspection and review of staff position in Ministries, Divisions,

and attached and subordinate offices for optimum utilization of manpower.
28. Appointment of Chairman and Managing Director who work as members
of the Board of Directors or Governors of Managing Boards by whatever
name they are called,
The Public Service Commission
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is a constitutional body appointed by,
and responsible to, the President. It has close links with the Ministry of
Establishment. These criteria of the PSC is provided by officers on deputation
from the Bangladesh civil service (BCS). It has two key constitutional
functions: recruitment of civil servants; and an advisory/regulatory role with
regards to the employment of civil servants. Recruitment Class 1 Officers
(roughly 8% of all civil servants and the key decision makers all the
administrative cadre are Class 1 officers) are recruited directly by the PSC
through open competitive examination into 29 cadres and other government
services. Numbers to be recruited are determined by the MoPA which gathers
the requirements for recruitment from the various ministries and government
bodies. It then advises the PSC about how many to recruit for the various
cadres. Recruitment follows Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules.
Whilst Bangladesh largely follows a closed entry system, there is provision
for10% so called lateral entry into the civil service, which is recruitment
directly from outside the service to the more senior grades. In addition, the
PSC is required to operate a quota system that reserves appointment to
Class 1 posts for specified groups as follows:
30% reserved for the children of freedom fighters; 10% reserved for women;
5% reserved for members of tribal groups; and 10% reserved for those living
in district areas. This leaves 45% of the total available for recruitment
through open competition (merit-based recruitment).
This quota system was introduced in March 1997. There are currently
about75,000 vacancies in the civil service that are unfilled. The PSC
perceives itself as being blamed, unfairly, for being slow and bureaucratic.
The Chairmans strongly held view is that they do not have the resources or
infrastructure to do their job properly. Advisory There is a constitutional
obligation for the PSC to be consulted on a specified range of issues before
any action can be taken (Jahan: 2006). These relate to: seniority;
regularization (making temporary posts permanent) and serious disciplinary
matters (reducing pay, demotion and dismissal). This mandatory
consultation is aimed at maintaining the integrity of civil service rules and

practice. Now, in recruitment of public officials and staff, Bangladesh follows
district and other quota systems which contradict the spirit of the
Bangladesh Constitute.
Recommendations and suggestion:

Human resource management should change:
(1) From generalist traditions to specialized generalists, with strengthening of
expertise and openness;
(2) From seniority based promotion, to promotion based on performance
evaluation and competence, using fair and transparent competition;
(3) From inadequate appraisal and merit concepts, to the strengthening of
individual performance management through more articulated review
systems;
(4)ACR system should be more transparent and performance and merit
based.
(5) From frequent and often unpredictable rotation of posts to new practice
strengthening of specialization through the career development programs.
(6) Politicization over the recruitment and selection process should be
removed.
(7) Openness should me the prime concern on the system.
(8) Political resemblance should be removed on trade union.
(9)Decision making process should be more specific and quick.
(10)Course material of training should me more up to date and specific.
(11) Effective reform recommendation should be taken under consideration.
(12)Coordination among different government machineries should be
maintained effectively.
(13) Administrative laws should be more pragmatic and consistent with the
development strategy with the government.
Concluding remark:
Although there are lots of problems prevailing in the civil service of
Bangladesh but nevertheless still we have potential in terms of improving
our human resource management which is fundamental for the effective
service delivery. Its high time government should look after the issues and
problems of public personnel management for the purpose of creating a
modern cutting edge bureaucracy. As because the overall development is
dependent on the proper functioning of the civil service and the
development of civil service is dependent on the personnel management,
this is needles to confer that particular focus on these issues discussed
above are paramount to be taken in notice with priority for ensuring a well
organized and properly functional civil service.

Issues and Problems of Public Personnel

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Abstract

Pubic Personnel Management:

the availability of abundant finances, physical resources, and infrastructure,

the service in accordance with proven merit in the discharge of official

department while on the other cases it is headed by an official enjoying the

Human Resource Management in Bangladesh Civil Service:

Recruitment & Selection:

Public Service commission (BPSC) conducts examination to identify the

Training & Development:

Foundation Training: It is a long-term training course for newly

External Training: It may be accomplished in two different ways; through

Promotion & Performance Appraisal:

lower level to higher level in same cadre.

Compensations and Inducements:

Retirement & Termination:

Career Planning in Bangladesh Civil Service:

appropriate number of pay levels matching different levels of skill and

o Economic Administration: Monetary, fiscal, commercial,

security and intelligence, defense administration, relief

Recommendations of Public Administration Reform (PARC),

limited in that it envisages only 50 percent of the posts of

Placement in the training institutes is a stigma in the civil service today.

Recruitment and selection in BCS on the basis of last three

Define job requirements

There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in

Regulatory Authority for Recruitment

Ministry of Public Administration(MoPA)

Direct Recruitment through open competitive examination.

Recruitment on the basis of Competitive Examination

Need Assessment and Budget Allocation

newspaper and distributes forms through the Sonali Bank. The

Appointment has to be made upon the recommendations of the PSC

Last three Preliminary Tests taken by PSC

Subjects for general

Mark Subjects for

Table: Showing the Subjects of BCS Written Examination and Viva

The first recruitment policy was announced in September 1972. It introduced

Table: Showing the recruitment by preliminary test and Written

Class I & II Posts

Class III & IV Post

Role and Effect of Quota System

The quota for the wards of freedom fighters through sacrificed by a

womens representation is not satisfactory enough to ensure the womens

Annual Reports of BPSC

Promotion in BCS on the basis of last three years data:

During the Governor-General of Lord Auckland, the system of reporting on

(b) Seniority inter se of the members of a service, which was earlier

Bangladesh Civil Service Cadre Officers Senior Scale Promotion

(4) An officer failing to pass in all the three subjects

(3) Each paper shall be of one hundred marks to be

Number of eligible applicant

Date of last Examination

Eligible in 1st paper

Eligible in 2nd paper

Eligible in 3rd paper

Appeared in 1st paper

Appeared in 2nd paper

Appeared in 3rd paper

Promoted in 1st paper

Promoted in 2nd paper

Promoted in 3rd paper

Senior Scale Promotion Examination August 2008

Number of eligible applicant