Two separate bills were introduced in Parliament on Tuesday aiming to bring amendments to remove the maximum age limit for the posts of Chairman and Commissioner of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and Chairman and Member of Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA).

If the two bills are passed, the government will be able to appoint chairmen of any age in the two regulatory bodies.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury separately introduced the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Amendment) Bill and Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill in Parliament.

Later, the two bills were sent to a special parliamentary committee for scrutiny. The panel was asked to file reports by Wednesday.

According to the existing law, if a person completes the age of 65, he is not considered eligible to be appointed as the chairman or commissioner of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission or cannot continue in office. It has been proposed to delete this provision in the bill.

On the other hand, the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority Act states that a person cannot become the chairman or member of the Insurance Development Authority if he or she completes 67 years of age. The bill brought to Parliament proposes to remove this provision.

Separate statements containing the purpose and reasons for the two bills state that the laws need to be made timely to appoint experienced, skilled and knowledgeable persons to take important decisions.

After a bill is introduced in Parliament, it is usually sent to a parliamentary committee for examination. But nothing was said about the next steps after the two bills were introduced.

When the discussion on the President's speech was about to begin after the two bills were introduced, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed stood up and drew the attention of the Speaker.

He said there was a slight disruption to the lawmaking process. There is a process to take the bill for immediate consideration.

The parliamentary committees related to the ministry have not been constitute yet. But there is a special committee. He opined that a proposal could be made to send the two bills to a special committee.

Then the Speaker asked the Finance Minister to propose sending the bills to a special committee. The bill was later sent to the special committee.