Every day, crowds of jobseekers can be seen at the entrance of the main building of Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) in Agargaon area of Dhaka.

Some come to check results, others in hope of new circulars. Some carry BCS application forms and some arrive for viva-voce examinations.

A candidate recommended in the 44th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) said, “It has been three years and 11 months since the circular of the 44th BCS was published, yet I still haven’t been appointed.”

Requesting anonymity, the jobseeker added, “Such a delay from the PSC is unacceptable.”

Following the July uprising, jobseekers had high expectations of the PSC in the changed political context. Meanwhile, PSC’s activities in the past one year to meet those expectations have drawn mixed reactions.

They say the positive actions taken by the new commission include- speeding up BCS exams and script evaluation, reducing application fees, printing question papers at its own press, reducing viva-voce marks, and taking steps to reform the syllabus.

However, the PSC has still failed to resolve non-cadre recruitment complications, prevent question paper errors, and stop harassment in the name of police verification or unwarranted job dismissals. Though, verification and dismissal issues fall outside PSC’s jurisdiction.