The review committee on determining the age limit for entering government jobs on Monday recommended to the interim government that the age limit should be 35 years for men and 37 years for women.
The review committee chief and former secretary Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury said this while briefing journalists at the secretariat in Dhaka on Monday.
He, however, said that the advisory council would take the final decision regarding the age limit.
The campaigners demanding 35 years as the age limit for government jobs, on the other hand, staged a demonstration on the day on the Dhaka University campus and vowed to continue their agitation until publishing a gazette notification accepting their demand.
The interim government, amid job aspirants鈥� movement demanding 35 years as the age limit for applying for government jobs, on September 30 formed a five-member committee led by Muyeed to review a rational age limit for entering government jobs.
Currently, the age limit for entering government jobs is 30 years, while it is 32 years for the children of freedom fighters.
Muyeed, also the chief of the interim government constituted Public Administration Commission, addressing the press briefing at the secretariat, said, 鈥榃omen often can鈥檛 take competitive exams at the same age as men due to family obligations, marriage, and children. This recommendation (37 years for female candidates) was made to ensure more women鈥檚 participation in government jobs,鈥� the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha quoted Muyeed as saying.
He further said that women鈥檚 inclusion in government jobs was still low despite quotas for them.
鈥極ur proposal aligns with global standards,鈥� he said.
Addressing concerns about the potential effect on the retirement age, the committee chief clarified that they made no recommendations regarding extending the retirement age for current government employees.
鈥楾hose currently in service will retire based on the age rules that were in place when they joined. There is no immediate need to worry about retirement, as those who enter under the new age limit will only retire many years down the line,鈥� Muyeed said.
Our Dhaka University correspondent reported on Monday that several job aspirants demanding 35 as the age limit for government job applications reiterated that they would continue their agitation until the publication of a gazette notification attaining their demand.
They staged a sit-in under the banner of 鈥�35-aspiring general students鈥� in front of the National Museum at Shahbag in the capital.
During the programme, its coordinator, Ahmed Tanzil, claimed the review committee prepared the recommendations due to their campaigns for a long time.