Age limit for entering public service rises to 32 years on a government decision following an entrenched movement by jobseekers on the demand.
A press release issued Thursday from the Cabinet Division carried the decision made by the interim government's advisory council earlier in the day that also discussed and dealt with numerous important issues.
The release states that the government has granted both policy and final approval for a draft ordinance titled 'Maximum Age Limit for Direct Recruitment to Government Jobs 2024'.
The ordinance sets the maximum age limit for direct recruitment to positions in government, autonomous, semi-autonomous, statutory bodies, and public non-financial corporations at 32 years.
"This age limit will be applicable to all cadres of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) as well as government jobs outside the BCS framework," says the handout.
For autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, recruitment rules will be followed with necessary adjustments.
However, recruitment rules for defence personnel and law-enforcement agencies will remain unchanged.
Moreover, under the provisions of this ordinance and Section 59A of the Public Service Act 2018, the Ministry of Public Administration will amend the Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules 2014.
This amendment will include a new regulation limiting candidates to a maximum of three attempts at the BCS exams.
Meanwhile, the protesters who had been demanding raising age limit rejected the government decision and urged raising the service-age limit to 35 years.
They also vowed to continue their movement until their demand is met.
Shariful Hasan Shuva, convener of the 'Student coordination council seeking age limit to 35', made the announcement in a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club on Thursday afternoon.
He said the government decision to raise the age limit to 32 "did not reflect their demand as they long have been seeking to extend it to 35 years".
Abdul Mueed Chowdhury, convener of the committee tasked with reviewing the age limit, stated that there was "justification" for the increase, particularly in the 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.
The committee earlier had recommended raising the maximum age for applying for public-service jobs to 35 years for men and 37 years for women.
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