The Cabinet Division on Wednesday forwarded a letter to the Ministry of Public Administration to raise the age limit for entering the civil service to 35 years and to set the retirement age at 65.
Cabinet Division Joint Secretary Md Sajjadul Hassan signed the letter on Wednesday.
Earlier on September 5 the Bangladesh Administrative Service Association (BASA) sent a letter to the Cabinet Division with various proposals including the issue of raising the entry age to government to 35. BASA Secretary General Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman of signed the letter.
The BASA letter states that in the past there was a 30-year entry age and a 59-year retirement age for those who wanted to work for the government. There was the 32–60 age range for Muktijodha (Freedom Fighter) quota holders. A recent survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) showed that the average life expectancy in Bangladesh has increased to 72.3 years.
According to BASA, teachers at public universities, on the other hand, will retire at the age of 65, but justices of the Supreme Court are allowed to serve until the age of 67. There are numerous contractual appointees over 67 who are currently employed.
The association points out that in 162 countries, the entry age for government service is typically 35 years; in some countries there is no age limit, with retirement ages ranging from 65 to 72, depending on the sector.
Agitations and demands have been raised on behalf of job aspirants and employees at various times regarding increase in the age of entry and retirement in government service.
In their letter, BASA also highlighted the challenges faced by competent officials over the past 15 years citing issues of discrimination and delayed promotions. They argued that the current system has unfairly impacted talented youth, especially those disadvantaged by quota systems.
The association is advocating for reforms that would set the entry age at 35 and retirement age at 65, aiming to create a merit-based system for future generations.
Since 2012, a group of students and people looking for government jobs staged multiple processions in the vicinity of Dhaka University demanding a 35-year entry age limit for government jobs.
"The recent development is significant," said Md Imtias Hossain, the group's convenor, in an interview with Bangladesh Post. He stated that their demands, which date back to the Shahbagh protest on January 29, 2012, to a 35-year age entry limit. Since then, over the previous 12 years, the demand has been brought up in National Parliament sessions for 73 times but no conclusive decision has been made, he added.
