United News of Bangladesh

Parliament on Sunday passed a bill setting the maximum age limit at 32 years for direct recruitment to government jobs and various public sector bodies. This is the first Bill that passed by the 13thParliament. The bill titled “Maximum Age Limit for Direct Appointment in Government, Autonomous, Statutory Government Authorities, Public Non-Financial Corporations and Self-Governing Bodies Act, 2026” was placed by State Minister for Public Administration Md Abdul Bari. The Bill stated that realising the demand for increasing the age limit for entry into government service and the necessity of the matter the age limit for direct appointment in government services has been extended  by two years to 32 years. But in some existing appointment rules, the age limit for entry into government service is fixed as 33 , 35, 40, and 45 years. As a result of the promulgation of the ordinance, the age limit for entry into service has been reduced to 32 years in all cases. The Bill also mentioned that increasing  the age limit for direct appointment in government jobs will increase the opportunities for job seekers, create opportunities for educated unemployed youth to engage themselves in building the country, and above all, the unemployment problem in the country will be solved. Increasing the age limit will also have various positive effects on the labor market and the economy. Recruitment process is underway by issuing a circular keeping the maximum age limit of 32 years for direct recruitment to the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC), as a constitutional institution, and therefore it is necessary to turn the said ordinance into law, said the minister. The Minister said that the bill was placed in the Parliament for the purpose of turning it into a law. Later, the bill was passed by the voice vote.    

The Public Administration Reform Commission on Monday recommended increasing the entry age for government jobs to 35 years for men and 37 years for women. Commission chairman Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury said this while talking to reporters after its meeting at the Ministry of Public Administration. Referring to a neighbouing country, he said the entry age for females was recommended till 37 years so that they get more chances. “The proposal will be placed at the next meeting of the advisory council, and the government will take a decision upon discussion,” he said. The commission chairman said that no decision has been taken about the retirement of the public employees as the government will consider it later. Read more: Decision on raising govt job entry age limit in 7 days: Job seekers’ coordinator Abdul Muyeed said they discussed the overall issue at the first meeting as there is a deadline for submitting a report by three months. After two months, he hoped, a structure will be formulated for the reform of the public administration. “No priority has been set yet for reforms as discussions are on…efforts will be made to submit the reports by three months,” the commission chairman added.