Govt to expedite hiring of 40,000 for public sector

The government has decided to expedite the recruitment of 6,000 doctors, 30,000 assistant primary teachers, and 3,500 nurses to urgently address the rising number of vacancies in key public sector positions.

The decision came at a special inter-ministerial meeting held at the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources yesterday, where senior officials discussed the staffing crisis plaguing multiple ministries.

The meeting was chaired by Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan, who also serves on the Public Administration Advisory Committee.

Advisers to the ministries of health, education, and primary and mass education attended, along with the cabinet secretary, the senior secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, and the secretary of the Public Service Commission (PSC).

As per the meeting's outcome, 2,000 doctors will be recruited through a special Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination to be held by September. The Ministry of Public Administration will request the PSC to issue the circular for this recruitment by April 30.

Another 4,000 doctors will be hired in phases over the coming months.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Public Administration's Statistics of Civil Officers and Staff show that of the 1,916,519 approved posts in government, 473,001 -- or roughly 25 percent -- remain vacant.

In addition, the Health Services Division informed the meeting that the viva voce for 2,300 nurses is already underway. Once this process is complete, recruitment for an additional 3,500 nurses will begin to help meet the demand at public hospitals and healthcare centres.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, however, said it cannot proceed with fresh recruitment due to an ongoing legal complication surrounding the promotion of around 30,000 assistant teachers. A court hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 23. If cleared, the ministry plans to immediately begin recruiting 30,000 new assistant teachers.

Meanwhile, the Secondary and Higher Education Division reported it is in the process of appointing 2,876 teachers across various institutions. Any remaining vacant positions will be filled through a special BCS examination.

To address the chronic delays and procedural bottlenecks in public hiring, the meeting also decided in principle to form a separate PSC for non-cadre recruitment.

A senior official at the meeting said the existing PSC has long been overwhelmed, as it is tasked with recruiting both cadre and first-class non-cadre officers.

Recruitment of third- and fourth-class staff is currently handled by individual ministries and agencies, often resulting in prolonged vacancies and allegations of irregularities.

The proposal for a separate commission is not new. During the previous government's tenure, an evaluation committee recommended forming a dedicated body for non-cadre recruitment, but the suggestion was never implemented.

Article 137 of the Constitution allows the establishment of more than one commission, while Article 140 empowers the PSC to "conduct tests and examinations for the selection of suitable candidates for appointment to the service of the Republic."

The latest figures from the Ministry of Public Administration's Statistics of Civil Officers and Staff show that of the 1,916,519 approved posts in government, 473,001 -- or roughly 25 percent -- remain vacant.

Among these, 1,353,509 posts fall within grades 13 to 20, which represent about 71 percent of all civil service positions. Officers in grades 1 to 9 are categorised as first-class, grades 10 to 12 as second-class, and grades 13 and below as third- and fourth-class posts.

Fouzul Kabir Khan told The Daily Star that ministries and divisions have been instructed to speed up the recruitment process across their departments and affiliated agencies.

"However, today's [yesterday] meeting focused specifically on fast-tracking urgent recruitments in the Health and Education ministries," he said.

The Public Administration Reform Commission has also recommended forming multiple PSCs in its latest report to streamline public sector recruitment.