Reform the quota system

At a time when many students are struggling to secure a job in public sector, the government is quite impassive towards the students' rational demands to reform the quota system. There is a humongous 56 percent quota in the BCS exam, the most competitive public recruitment exam in the country.

In the 38th BCS exam, for example, there were 2024 vacant posts, of which 1132 posts—more than fifty percent of all posts—were singled out for the quota holders, who constituted less than 25 percent of all candidates. This is a form of discrimination. In addition, the government has recently lowered the minimum age required to be a freedom fighter. This will undoubtedly increase the number of freedom fighters as well as the number of candidates under quota.

I am not opposing the quota system altogether, but I think the system, as it is, cannot continue forever. It must be reformed. Many countries in the world offer quota to disadvantaged groups of society, but nowhere in the world is the system so discriminatory.

The Daily Star has reported that the Public Service Commission recommended bringing changes in the existing quota system several times. We urge the government to strike a balance in the recruitment system. Otherwise, the problem will be acute in the near future.

Shamir Sarkar, University of Dhaka