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More than 521,000 posts remain vacant in government ministries, departments and public institutions across Bangladesh, highlighting a severe manpower shortage in the country’s public administration.
The government has drawn up recruitment plans with three different timeframes of six months, one year and five years to fill the vacant positions. All ministries and divisions have been requested to expedite recruitment notices and take time-bound measures to address the manpower shortage.
State Minister for Public Administration Md Abdul Bari disclosed the information in Parliament on Tuesday in reply to a question from ruling party MP Khairul Kabir Khokon.
The question-and-answer session was held at the beginning of the parliamentary sitting, chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed.
According to the state minister, a total of 521,922 government posts remained vacant as of June 30, 2025, based on the latest available manpower data on government employees.
He said the Ministry of Public Administration had written to all relevant ministries and divisions seeking updated information on their recruitment activities and the current status of vacant posts to ensure transparent and speedy appointments.
Several ministries and divisions, including the Ministry of Public Administration itself, have already initiated recruitment processes, he added.
In response to a separate question from BNP MP Sarwar Jamal Nizam, the state minister provided a breakdown of vacancies by employment category.
According to the figures, 73,380 posts in the first grade, 129,246 in the second grade, 179,542 in the third grade and 135,338 in the fourth grade remain vacant. Another 4,416 vacancies have been reported in other categories.
The figures show that third-grade positions account for the largest share of the vacancies, followed by fourth-grade and second-grade posts.
During a supplementary question, Khairul Kabir Khokon asked whether the government planned to identify and remove people who had secured government jobs during the previous regime through irregularities, including the use of fake freedom fighter certificates, political considerations and corruption.
In response, Abdul Bari said the government would review allegations of irregularities in past recruitment processes and take necessary action if specific information and supporting evidence were found.
He said the government was currently working to fill existing vacancies and assured Parliament that any positions falling vacant because of recruitment irregularities would also be filled on the basis of merit and qualifications.
National Citizen Party (NCP) MP Md Abul Hasnat raised questions about the progress of recruitment, pointing out that similar information on vacant government posts and recruitment had been presented in Parliament five months and 22 days earlier.
He wanted to know how much progress had been made since then and when the recruitment process would be completed.
The state minister said recruitment activities were continuing through the regular process across government offices and departments, from district-level establishments to central administrative bodies, as well as through the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC).
He explained that recruitment-related information was updated every six months. The government would review recruitment progress towards the end of the current year and inform Parliament how many vacant posts had been filled by then, he added.
Replying to a question from reserved-seat MP Nipun Roy Chowdhury, Abdul Bari also outlined specific recruitment targets for the Ministry of Public Administration and its subordinate offices and agencies.
According to the targets, 2,879 vacant posts are expected to be filled within six months, 4,449 within one year and 3,110 within five years.
Meanwhile, the state minister informed Parliament about various measures taken by the BPSC to prevent question paper leaks, financial corruption and digital fraud in recruitment examinations, including the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examinations.
He said closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras had been installed in designated rooms used for preparing and moderating BCS examination questions.
Question setters now prepare examination papers inside the BPSC’s highly confidential rooms. After preparation, the question papers are sealed and kept in a secured vault room under the supervision of a commission member.
Four police personnel remain on duty round the clock to ensure the security of the vault room, he said.
The BPSC is also using its own digital printing press to print examination question papers. During the printing process, the concerned commission members and officials remain inside the press until the examination is completed.
They are not allowed to keep mobile phones or other electronic devices that could be used to communicate with the outside world during this period.
A facial recognition-based lock system has also been introduced to regulate access to the vault room, the state minister said.
He further said the entire BCS examination process, from receiving applications to publishing final results, had been brought under an automated system.
Answer scripts of the preliminary examination are scanned using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) machines to prepare results. Written examination scripts are evaluated by multiple examiners at the commission’s premises.
In addition, the identities of candidates and experts participating in viva voce examination boards are disclosed only 30 minutes before the interviews begin, a measure intended to minimise the possibility of undue influence and manipulation.
The government’s recruitment plans and the safeguards introduced by the BPSC come amid growing concerns over the large number of vacant positions in public institutions and the need to ensure transparent, merit-based recruitment.
Filling the vacancies is considered important for improving the delivery of public services and strengthening administrative capacity, particularly at district and grassroots levels where manpower shortages can affect the implementation of government programmes and the delivery of essential services.