Govt panel recommends raising age limit for govt jobs to 35 for men, 37 for women

A panel reviewing the age limits for public sector jobs has recommended raising the eligibility threshold to 35 years for men and 37 years for women.

Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, chief of the Public Administration Reform Commission and head of the review committee, addressed the issue on Monday.

The recommendations have been sent to the office of the chief advisor, he said.

"The government will now make a decision on the age limits. We expect discussions in an advisory meeting on Monday. The recommended age limit for women has been set at 37 to provide them with greater opportunities, aligning with practices in neighbouring countries. A general recommendation of 35 has been made for all other applicants, applicable across all government job grades."

Commenting on retirement policies, he added, "No decisions have been made about retirement yet. New employees will have a long tenure before retiring. The government will address this issue later. Those currently in office are expected to retire under existing regulations within the next seven to eight years."

He also provided an update on the preliminary meeting of the Public Administration Reform Committee. "It was our first session, focussing on administrative reforms. We introduced ourselves and discussed broad topics. We hope to deliver a report in three months and expect to establish a framework in two months."

When asked about the focus areas for reform, he said, "We haven't determined specific priorities for reform yet as discussions are still underway. However, we aim to formulate recommendations within the next three months."

The movement to raise the age limit for entering public sector jobs began over a decade ago and has gained fresh momentum following recent political upheaval in Bangladesh.

The interim government has indicated a positive stance on increasing the age limit, but the extent of the change was not immediately clear.