The government on Wednesday decided to reduce the application fees for government job including the Bangladesh Civil Services (BCS) to Tk 200 from Tk 700.
Private companies have been requested to charge Tk 200 as job application fees. The authorities concern will issue separate notifications within a week. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Secretariat Committee o Administration Development held at the Secretariat. Cabinet Secretary Dr Sheikh Abdur Rashid chaired the meeting.
Emerging from the meeting, Public Administration Ministry Senior Secretary Dr Md Mokhles Ur Rahman told reporters, "The BCS aspirants had to pay Tk 700 application fees earlier. The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) proposed to reduce it to Tk 350, by 50 percent."
"But, the committee decided to reduce it to Tk 200. The aspirants of BCS 47th will have to pay only Tk 200 for application," he said, adding "Meanwhile, candidates with disabilities would not need to pay extra fees from now onwards. Earlier, they had to pay additional Tk 100. The BPSC proposed to reduce the fees to Tk 50. But, the meeting decided to remove the additional charge. It would be managed with special arrangement. Earlier, the disabled persons had to pay additional Tk 100, now they will pay only Tk 200."
The BPSC will issue a notification about the application fees, he said, adding that the Finance Division will issue another notification for the banks, insurances, and semi-government bodies. They will also charge only Tk 200 for job applications.
"Now, the banks take Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,000. They give jobs to two persons, but take applications from 200 to 1,000 persons."
He said that a letter would be given to the Finance Division requesting to issue a notification. If the letter, it would also be requested to take necessary measures, so that the private companies also implement the directives of the government.
Regarding BCS exams, Dr. Mokhles said, "The oral exam marks in the BCS have been reduced from 200 to 100, in accordance with the new law of 2024. The total BCS exam marks were 1,100, which will now be 1,000, with 100 marks allocated for the oral examination."
Previously, the Public Service Commission (PSC) had sent a proposal to the Ministry of Public Administration to reduce the oral exam marks from 200 to 100.
