Bangladesh civil service

The Bangladesh civil service is the permanent administrative service of the state, organised into cadres and administered by the Ministry of Public Administration (জনপ্রশাসন মন্ত্রণালয়). Its constitutional basis is Part IX of the Constitution, which covers appointment and conditions of service (Article 133), tenure of office (Article 134), dismissal and removal of civilian public officers (Article 135) and reorganisation of service (Article 136) ¹.

Constitutional framework

Chapter I of Part IX ("The Services of Bangladesh") comprises Articles 133–136. Chapter II ("Public Service Commissions") comprises Articles 137–141: Article 137 provides for the establishment of commissions, Article 138 for the appointment of their members, Article 139 for their term of office, Article 140 for their functions, and Article 141 for an annual report ¹. Appointment of a commission chairman is made by the President under Article 138(1), and the chairman holds office for five years or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier, under Article 139(1) ².

The Ministry of Public Administration is the ministry responsible for the civil service, for cadre management and for training; it issues appointment gazettes and publishes service statistics, including the "Statistics of Government Employees" and the "Organization and Management Guidelines" ⁸⁹.

Bangladesh Public Service Commission

The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) is the constitutional commission that conducts recruitment examinations for the civil service and advises on service matters, under Articles 137–140 ¹. It runs the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examinations — preliminary, written and viva — and recommends candidates for cadre and non-cadre posts ³.

The current chairman is Professor Mohammad Nazmuzzaman Bhuian, appointed by a Ministry of Public Administration notification of 2 September 2026 under Article 138(1), for a five-year term under Article 139(1) ². The preceding chairman, Professor Mobasser Monem, had been appointed in October 2024 and resigned in 2026 ²⁷.

The BCS cadres

The civil service is organised into 26 BCS cadres, divided into general cadres and technical/professional cadres ¹⁰³. Cadre names attested in a published list of recommended candidates include, among the general cadres, BCS (Administration), BCS (Police), BCS (Audit and Accounting), BCS (Tax), BCS (Foreign Affairs), BCS (Information), BCS (Cooperatives), BCS (Railway Transport and Commercial), BCS (Commerce), BCS (Food), BCS (General Education), BCS (Technical Education), BCS (Family Planning), BCS (Post) and BCS (Ansar); and among the professional or technical cadres, BCS (Health), BCS (Agriculture), BCS (Livestock), BCS (Fisheries), BCS (Forest), BCS (Roads and Highways), BCS (Public Works) and BCS (Railway Engineering) ³.

Recruitment is competitive and centrally examined. The 44th BCS examination, noticed in 2021 for 1,710 vacancies, resulted in 1,690 candidates being recommended for cadre posts in 2025 ³.

Size of the public service

Two differently dated figures have been stated in Parliament:

• As of 30 June 2025: 1,464,350 officials and employees in service, with 521,922 government posts vacant ⁴⁵.
• As stated on 1 April 2026: 14,50,891 government employees and 4,68,220 posts vacant ⁶.

Both are self-reported government figures given in Parliament, and they carry different reference dates ⁴⁶. The underlying publication is the Ministry of Public Administration’s "Statistics of Government Employees 2025" ⁸.

Verification notes

• A complete authoritative list of all 26 BCS cadre names was not obtained. The count of 26 is supported by a scholarly study and by recruitment reporting ¹⁰³; the names above are those specifically attested in a published list of recommended candidates and should not be read as the full schedule ³.
• A standalone statutory instrument titled "Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules" was not located as a primary text. Recruitment is conducted by the BPSC under its constitutional functions in Article 140 ¹³.
• The official BCS cadre schedule / cadre rules were not retrievable: `bpsc.gov.bd` and `mopa.gov.bd` returned no readable content to a direct fetch, and reference sources were unavailable.
• The two strengths above are not reconcilable from the available evidence because their reference dates differ; no single definitive statistical-report figure was extracted ⁴⁶.
• The exact date of taking office of the BPSC chairman beyond the appointment notification of 2 September 2026 was not verified ².

Sources

10 sources cited. Tiers: T1 official or primary, T2 scholarly or curated, T3 media of record.

1. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh — Part IX (The Services of Bangladesh), Articles 133–141 — Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (T1, accessed 2026-09-19). https://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367.html
2. Professor Mohammad Nazmuzzaman Bhuian made PSC chairman — Prothom Alo (English) (T3, accessed 2026-09-19). https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/government/5dg8mthzug
3. 1,690 recommended for cadre posts after 4yrs of exam notice — New Age (T3, accessed 2026-09-19). https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/268732/1690-recommended-for-cadre-posts-after-4yrs-of-exam-notice
4. Over 5.21 lakh govt posts vacant: Public admin state minister (Parliament Watch) — The Daily Star (T3, accessed 2026-09-19). https://www.thedailystar.net/news/the-parliament-watch/parliament/news/over-521-lakh-govt-posts-vacant-public-admin-state-minister-4218186
5. 5.22 lakh public service posts vacant: State Minister — Daily Sun (T3, accessed 2026-09-19). https://www.daily-sun.com/bangladesh/884766/5-22-lakh-public-service-posts-vacant-state-minister
6. Government employee figures stated in Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad session report) — Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), national news agency (T3, accessed 2026-09-19). https://www.bssnews.net/js-session/373613
7. Govt appoints new PSC chairman, four members — Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), national news agency (T3, accessed 2026-09-19). https://www.bssnews.net/news/215237
8. Zabihullah asks to timely implement ADP projects under public admin ministry — Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), national news agency (T3, accessed 2026-09-19). https://www.bssnews.net/news/419768
9. Bangladesh National Portal — List of Ministries and Divisions — Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (T1, accessed 2026-09-19). https://bangladesh.gov.bd/views/ministry-and-directorate-list
10. Civil service cadre structure (study of the Bangladesh Civil Service) — North South University, PPG research paper series (T2, accessed 2026-09-19). https://www.northsouth.edu/newassets/files/ppg-research/ppg-7th-batch/Pallab_final_thesis.pdf

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