Some National Citizens Party leaders, including Sarjis Alam expressed solidarity with government job seekers hunger strike demanding reform of the Public Service Commission, including, allocating 100 marks for the viva exam from the 45th BCS onwards, and taking proper measures to prevent question leaks.
NCP leaders expressed their solidarity around 7:30pm, Friday, with government job seekers hunger strike at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture.
Sarjis Alam, Chief Organizer (North) of NCP demanded comprehensive reform of the BCS examination system, specifically calling for a reduction in viva voce marks from 200 to 100, starting with the 45th BCS examination cycle.
"We've seen how the 200-mark viva voce exam became a standard for political recommendations, with political recommendation letters being sent before the viva," Sarjis said.
He criticized the Public Service Commission (PSC) for allowing political interference in the recruitment process over the past 16 years, particularly in the viva voce component where political recommendations allegedly influenced outcomes.
"How can the 46th BCS written exam proceed without identifying and taking legal action against those who passed through question leaks?" Sarjis questioned, highlighting concerns about the integrity of the examination process.
Sarjis warned the interim government against using force against protesters, referencing to July Uprising incidents: "After the attack on protesters at Dhaka University in July, the movement entered a new phase. You must move forward by accepting reasonable demands, but if there are any attempts to physically intimidate protesters, the consequences will be different."
Bin Yeamin Mollah said that the question paper for the 46th BCS exam was leaked and the person who leaked the question, Syed Abed Ali, is in jail, but those who used the leaked questions to pass the preliminary exam will supposedly sit for the written exam of the 46th BCS.
"If they are not arrested, there is no benefit in keeping only the Abed Alis in jail. The Abed Alis should also be released," he added.
Earlier, on Thursday government job seekers said their hunger strike demanding PSC reforms.
Their additional demands include allowing candidates to re-select their cadre preference, increasing non-cadre posts, ensuring employment for all viva-pass candidates, addressing applicant hardships, expediting answer script evaluation, enabling on-site checking of answer sheets at the commission to ensure neutrality and expanding the commission from 25 to 30 members through a prompt ordinance.
