BANGLADESH
For the second time in a month a committee of the Bangladesh Parliament has called for changes to age restrictions in the Public Service.
The Standing Committee on Public Administration wants the maximum age limit at which citizens can apply for Public Service jobs raised from 30 to 35 years.
It also called for the retirement age to be raised from 59 years.
Last month, Minister for Finance, A. M. A. Muhith ruled out the possibility of any changes before the country’s General Election, which must be held before the end of the year.
Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina had earlier told Parliament that her Government had no plan to increase the existing retirement age as that would create various problems and many PS staff might not get promotions they were due.
Minister for Public Administration, Syed Ashraful Islam also said the Government would not raise the age limit for entering Government, “as the number of job seekers would increase highly”.
The Public Service is the single largest job sector in Bangladesh and has become more lucrative after the Government doubled the salary of PS employees last year.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Public Administration said changes in the age restrictions for PS applicants were a matter for the Government and were out of their hands.
The debate comes after public disturbances when students took to the streets to protest over continued PS quotas favouring freedom fighters from the 1971 War of Independence and their descendants.
Dhaka, 14 September 2018
