Age limit for govt job entry: Panel suggests 35yrs for men, 37 for women

A government committee has recommended raising the maximum age limit for applying for public service jobs to 35 years for male candidates and 37 years for female applicants.
The five-member committee, formed to review the feasibility of extending the age limit for applying for government jobs, submitted its report to the Chief Adviser’s Office last week.
A highly placed source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the recommendations made in the report to The Daily Star yesterday.
The current age threshold for all to enter public service is 30. The limit is 32 years for children and grandchildren of freedom fighters.
The interim government formed the review committee on September 30 as hundreds of jobseekers staged a massive demonstration in front of the chief adviser’s residence, demanding an increase in the age limit to 35 years.
The protests intensified after the government on September 22 announced that it was not planning to increase the age limit.
The review committee’s proposal will be placed before the advisory council where the government will finalise the age limit.
Sources in the government, however, said the recommendations are likely to be accepted.
“It will be unprecedented in the history of public service if the recommendations are approved,” said a top official, wishing not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Led by former caretaker government adviser Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, the committee considered some key factors, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the “deprivation” of candidates during the Awami League government’s tenure, and economic strains from the Russia-Ukraine war.
It also took into account global practices in its review. The committee found that countries like the US have no age limit for government job entry, while Nepal has a limit of 45 years, and some Indian states allow candidates aged up to 36 years.
The committee viewed these as positive precedents for Bangladesh.
Other members of the committee are Mokhles Ur Rahman, senior secretary to the public administration ministry; Kowsar Zahura, former joint secretary; Muhammad Iqbal, former additional secretary; and Saiful Islam, an incumbent additional secretary.
The committee members also looked into the factors behind the demonstrations, said sources.
Public service recruitment came to a near halt during the pandemic. Although the previous government announced an age relaxation due to the pandemic, the recruitment process was slow, and fewer new opportunities were created.
But before the country got over with the impact of the pandemic, came the Russia-Ukraine war which affected the national economy and limited job opportunities in both the public and private sectors, the sources said.
They said that numerous students were unable to complete their education because of politically motivated cases and harassment during the tenure of the previous AL regime. It affected their ability to apply for government jobs.
“The committee considered all these factors to recommend an age increase exceeding the demands of the students,” said an official.
The committee members consulted educators, hiring authorities, and student organisations.
It analysed the legal and administrative barriers to making reforms and their possible impact on the labour market and the economy.
A senior official from the Bangladesh Administrative Service Association (BASA) said if the government accepts these recommendations, it may also increase the retirement age in public service.
He said that government employees typically need to serve for at least 25 years to qualify for a pension. Therefore, if the entry age is raised to 35 years, the retirement age will also need to be adjusted accordingly, the official said.
A secretary, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that the committee was specifically tasked with reviewing the entry age and not the retirement age. However, there is optimism that the government may address both issues simultaneously.
For several years, graduates have been demanding that the government job entry age limit be increased. Recently, BASA wrote to the cabinet secretary, requesting an increase in both the entry and retirement ages as sporadic street protests by jobseekers continued.
Former additional secretary Firoz Mia, a civil service expert, said the government should go for a temporary increase in the age limit to 35 or 37 years considering the impacts of the quota system, the pandemic, and political instability that put government recruitment on hold for an extended period.
However, raising the age limit permanently could have “negative” consequences, he added.
Increasing the entry age significantly would also necessitate raising the retirement age, Firoz pointed out.
For positions that require qualifications from grade eight to Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC), candidates achieve eligibility by the age of 18. Jobseekers of this level under the current system have approximately 12 years to apply.
“Extending this opportunity from 12 to 18-19 years is entirely unnecessary. Additionally, millions apply for government jobs. Increasing the age limit would further swell the number of applicants, making it harder to manage the process in the long run,” the former bureaucrat said.
The government could have considered adjusting the age limit for for higher-grade jobs temporarily, such as the next two rounds of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) exams, according to him.
The recruitment process itself takes at least a year, and in some cases, it can take two to three years. Those who apply at the age of 35 might only be hired at 37 or 38, by which time their enthusiasm for the job may wane, Firoz said.
“I believe that if young people spend too much time pursuing government jobs after graduation, many will lose interest in becoming entrepreneurs. Moreover, starting an entrepreneurial journey after the age of 35 would have its own complexities.”
However, the government could permanently raise the age limit to 35, 40, and 42 years for ethnic minorities, the transgender community, and people with disabilities, respectively, Firoz said.