No plans to extend age limit for govt jobs: State Minister
The govt recently extended the age limit for retirement from 57 years to 59 years, so naturally, the number of vacant positions has decreased, Farhad Hossain added
Bangladesh presently has no plans to extend the age limit for entry into government jobs, which is 30 years for all eligible citizens, and 32 years for the children of freedom fighters.
State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain disclosed on Tuesday, adding that the various educational institutions – including universities – currently do not suffer from session jams as they used to in the past.
Answering a tabled question from BNP lawmaker Mosharraf Hossain at the 14th session of the 11th parliament, Farhad continued, "Nowadays, students usually pass SSC in 16 years, HSC in 18 years, and get a post-graduate degree by 23-24 years.
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"So they get at least 6-7 years to prepare and apply for government jobs. It takes around 1-2 years to complete the appointment process, but the government does not count this period to the appointees' age limit."
Discussing the issue further, he said, "The government recently extended the age limit for retirement from 57 years to 59 years, so naturally, the number of vacant positions has decreased.
"If we increase the age limit for entry into government jobs, the number of possible applicants in various positions will increase significantly too. This, in turn, could create more competition among the applicants."
Though increasing the age limit for entry will allow people over the age of 30 years to apply for government jobs, it could also trigger frustration among applicants below the age of 30 years, Farhad added.
Considering these factors, the government has decided not to increase this limit, the state minister told parliament.
He further said, "Departments and directorates under every ministry and division, and other statutory, autonomous and nationalised organisations – who could not publish recruitment circulars (excluding for BCS) due to the Covid-19 crisis – have been requested to set 25 March 2020 as the cutoff for age limit for entry in all such notifications published within 31 December this year.
Farhad mentioned that there are currently 170 contractual officials engaged in government service in Bangladesh, including retired physicians, engineers, scientists, members of the armed forces, public administration officials, and citizens who are eligible.
