Rehana Khatun,  a jobseeker in her early 30s, has expressed her hope of reviving her lost dream following the recommendation to raise the age limit for entering government service to 35 years for men and 37 years for women. "I had lost my dream, but now I have got the second chance to reclaim it," said Rehana, who completed her graduation and post-graduation in Bengali from Islamic University, Kushtia. The Public Administration Reform Commission, formed by the interim government, has recommended the government to raise the maximum age for applying for public service jobs to 35 years for men and 37 years for women. Rehana, mother of a two-year-old baby, said she faced viva voice of 7-8 job examinations, but failed to get any government job. “As I have already crossed the existing age limit of 30, I lost my dream and had to bow down to my fate as the previous government was adamant not to increase the age limit,” she said. Rehana said she had quit her all efforts and preparatory works for job exams, but now she is going to restart that with fresh enthusiasm as the recommendation is placed. Rehana, an inhabitant of Khuksa municipality in Kushtia, said she was very interested in a good job like government one as she is the eldest among her four siblings. But she did not get enough time and scope to enter the public jobs as the session jam killed two years before completing her post-graduation at the end of 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic killed another two years. Thousands of jobseekers left in uncertainty as PSC halts recruitment exams She said the recommended 37-year age limit for female is not irrational as the girls face more adversities than their male counterparts in life. Another jobseeker, Sohel Amin, 31, who completed BBA and MBA from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), said they welcomed the recommendation as they now can dare to dream again for a public service job. “Though we’ve demanded for raising the age limit to 35 years and withdrawing this limit in some cases like education, health and research-related jobs, we’re still happy what now they recommended,” he said. Sohel said they also welcomed the 37-year age limit for women saying that even it would have been better if the committee recommended for withdrawal of this age limit for women. He said they have been placing the demand for rising the age-limit over the last 12 years but the demand was irrationally ignored by the previous government. Describing the interim government as a student-friendly one, he said, “We’ve become more hopeful over the fulfillment of our demand as the new government took over the charge.” Shariful Hasan Shuvo, convener of a jobseeker platform, ‘Chakrite Abedoner Boyos Sima 35 Prottasi Sikkharthi Sommonnoy Parishad,’ said they are happy with the recommendation what the commission placed. “It’s reflection of our demand. We’re happy with the recommendation. But we expect there would no deviation in recommendation and it would be placed in the council of advisers and published in a gazette notification soon,” he said. Shuvo said their seniors started the movement in 2011 to meet the demand for raising the maximum age limit for entering government service after the government increased the retirement age to 59 years from 57 years. About the rationale of the demand, he said it takes 27-28 years for a student to complete post-graduation and the average life expectancy significantly enhanced in the country. Now the maximum age limit for all to enter public service is 30, while the limit is 32 years for children and grandchildren of freedom fighters. Govt job entry age: Reform Commission Chairman explains recommendations

State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain on Tuesday said the government has no plan to raise the age limit for entering government job.The state minister said this while replying to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP Habibe Millat ( Sirajganj-2).Explaining the much talked about issue, the minister said that raising the age limit for entering services would make the recruitment test more competitive and create frustration among those below 30 years of age.Farhad said in the past there was huge session jams in various educational institutions including universities but now it can be said that there is no significant session jam. Also read: Entering govt jobs: Farhad says no chance to relax age limit“As a result, students usually get SSC degree in 16 years, HSC in 18 years, and post graduate degree in 23/24 years. The maximum age limit for general candidates to enter the job is 30 years, so even after obtaining a master's degree, they have at least 6/7 years to apply for the job,” the state minister said.In addition, Farhad said that if a candidate within 30 years of age applies for the job, even if it takes 1/2 years to complete the recruitment process, it is not counted.He said the number of vacancies has come down naturally as the retirement age has been raised from 57 to 59 recently. Also read: Job seekers block city roads demanding extension of age limit for govt job“In this context, if the age limit for entry into the job is increased, the number of job seekers for different positions will increase at a huge rate. This can lead to more competition in recruitment. This can lead to frustration among candidates under the age of 30, even if those who are above 30 years of age will get the opportunity to apply for getting job,” the state minister also said.