Govt to raise govt jobs age limit to 32yrs

The interim government's advisory council approved a draft ordinance on Thursday to raise the age limit for applying to government jobs in Bangladesh to 32 years.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on October 24.

The draft ordinance proposes increasing the age limit for all jobs under the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) as well as other government jobs outside the BCS to 32 years.

Recruitment policies for autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies will also be adjusted to reflect the change, according to the draft.

However, the draft specifies that recruitment for the armed forces and law enforcement agencies will continue to follow their own policies.

The move follows a series of protests by job seekers demanding an increase in the age limit, which had previously been set at 30 years. Abdul Mueed Chowdhury, the convener of the committee tasked with reviewing the age limit, stated that there was "justification" for the increase, particularly in light of the difficulties many applicants faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and session delays.

Although the committee did not initially specify how much the limit would be raised, it acknowledged that protesters had called for the age cap to be extended to 35 years.

In response to the protests, a five-member committee was formed to review the demands. The committee includes Md. Mokhlesur Rahman, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, along with former senior officials Kawshar Zahura, Mohammad Iqbal, and Mohammad Saiful Islam from the Finance Division.