Regarding the Education Ministry's recommendation to raise the age limit for government jobs, Minister of Public Administration Farhad Hossain said it is subject to government policy. "A decision in this regard would be made in consultation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, adhering to her directives," he said. Talking to UNB, Farhad Hossain said Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury has recommended that the age limit for entry into government jobs should be 35 years in general and 37 years in the case of quota. Recently, he sent a letter to the Minister of Public Administration with this recommendation. "But the age limit for entry into govt jobs is a matter of policy decision of the state. A decision in this regard will be taken after it is presented to the Prime Minister." Dhaka to have 22 cattle markets for Eid-ul-Azha 2024 "Any policy decision follows a process. We will consult with the Prime Minister over the issue and proceed with her suggestions", he added. The minister also said if the age of entry to the job is increased, the recruitment policy should be changed. We have to do special work on it. "Only after discussion with the Prime Minister, we can say whether it will be done or not or when it will be done," the minister said. He said, "These issues have already been placed in front of the Prime Minister.  The Members of Parliament of the 11th Parliament raised questions about this, I myself answered those questions and the Prime Minister also answered some of those questions. There she said, the age limit for entering the job will be 30 years, but in the case of children of freedom fighters, it will be 32 years. 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041: Government undertakes 8 strategic initiatives The government has increased the retirement age from 57 to 59 years, he said, adding that the entry age has also been increased from 27 years to 30 years. "If the entry age is increased, then we have to think about the age of retirement and it's a matter." The Prime Minister has clarified these issues very nicely, Minister Farhad said.

Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nofel has recommended that the age limit for entry into government jobs should be pushed back to 35, with another 2 years (37) allowed for quota positions. The Education Minister has sent a letter to his counterpart, Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain, with this recommendation. The age limit for entry into government service is 30 at present (32 under various quotas including freedom fighters, etc). In the letter, the Education Minister said that the students have been protesting on the streets for a long time regarding the demand to make the age limit of job application minimum 35 years according to international standards. In 2018, Bangladesh Awami League's election manifesto on page 33 stated that 'proper steps will be taken considering merit and ability to increase the age limit for entry into government jobs'. Read more: Age limit raised by 3 years and 3 months for entering govt service; not applicable for BCS It further states, "In reality, the age limit for applying jobs at all levels in Bangladesh was raised from 27 years to 30 years in 1991, 33 years ago, when the average life expectancy of people in Bangladesh was 57 years. At present, the average life expectancy of people in Bangladesh has increased to 73 years, so it is logical to increase the age limit for applying for jobs." Nofel wrote that the age limit for applying for jobs in about 162 countries of the world is at least 35 years, among South Asian countries, our neighboring country India is the most populous country in the world, but the maximum age limit for applying for jobs is 45 years in different states, 45 years in Maldives, 45 years in Sri Lanka, 35 years in Nepal, 35 years in Afghanistan. The developed countries of the world, including India, have done a lot of research about the age limit and increased it to about 35 years according to international standards. In order to eliminate unemployment and create a developed smart Bangladesh, it is important to make students skilled at international standards and also to create opportunities to enter the international job market. In such cases, the maximum age limit for application in all Ministries, Departments, Directorates  and Autonomous, Nationalized Institutions at various levels of employment is minimum 35 years as per International Standards (37 years for  BJS, Doctors, Freedom Fighters Quota), Sub Inspector of Police and in case of appointment of sergeant, opportunity to participate in examination up to 30 years. The Education Minister requested the Minister of Public Administration to take necessary steps considering the issue of opening the age limit in research and various special skill fields as per the government policy. Read more: Police attack age limit protest rally in Shahbagh

Speakers at a virtual dialogue on Sunday said it would not be possible to tackle the existing coronavirus situation with only the government’s initiatives as the public engagement is crucially needed here, which remains missing in the policy of the State.  “If all want to face this adverse situation bureaucratically, it’ll not work. Social engagement and initiatives will be required here alongside the government’s initiatives. Otherwise, I think Bangladesh would be affected so immensely,” said Bangladesh Workers Party MP Fazle Hossain Badsha (Rajshahi-2). Citizen’s Platform for SDGs and the Hunger Project jointly arranged the dialogue titled “’Initiative for local people engagement in tackling Corona” through an online platform. Badsha said the administration was entrusted with the responsibility (to deal Covid-19 pandemic). “The concept of public engagement is not there in the decisions of the State (Government),” he added. “I think that it is not possible to reduce the Covid-19 infection (rate) without public engagement and their organised power…. A trained volunteer group is needed today to serve the people in this crisis,” said the lawmaker. Convenor of the Citizen’s Platform Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said now there is no alternative to a public engagement initiative in combating the pandemic. “But the biggest obstacle here is the absence of necessary framework and guidelines on the part of the government for such a public engagement initiative.  This absence is also undermining the effectiveness of various government stimulus delivery and awareness-raising about vaccination and health protocols,” he said. Read: Bangladesh faces harder days as Covid kills 231 more He questioned whether there is any ‘mental barrier’ among political leaders to engage the country’s non-government development initiatives or whether the political leaders consider them (non-government organisations) as their competitors not thinking them as partners. Noting that it is the administration not political leaders who play the greater role in tackling the pandemic now at the local level, he also questioned if the administration also feels any sort of discomfort or mental barrier to engage private initiatives. To fight the pandemic in a coordinated way, it is urgently needed to have a national guideline over public engagement shunning the narrow attitude towards private ventures, said Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya. Noted economist Prof Rehman Sobhan stressed the need for collective action in coordination of the government and private initiatives to fight the pandemic. “Civil Societies are not competitors rather they are partners (of the government),” he said. Country Director of the Hunger Project Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar in his keynote presentation said the Corona Resilient Village (CRV) initiative is essential to check coronavirus transmission in the grassroots. He said now the coronavirus has already spread throughout the country due to community transmission. It’ll take a long time to bring all the people under the vaccination coverage. Besides, there is still uncertainty even about the effectiveness of vaccines.      Read: Bangladesh to resume administering AstraZeneca jabs Monday “So, this coronavirus problem will not go away so easily. We’ll have to lead life coping up with it…This is why we took the CRV initiative last year,” said Dr Majumdar explaining that the CRV initiative is based on volunteer work and run by the community leadership. Noted personality Prof Rounaq Jahan said people are much aware but don’t practice the health protocols. “So, it is essential now to reduce the gap between awareness and practice,” she said.   Mentioning that the government frequently changes its Covid decisions, Prof Jahan said, “The government will have to stick to its policy (not changing it frequently), if it wants to enforce more successfully and reduce the awareness-practice gap.” Swapan Kumar Das, Chairman of Fakirhat Upazila in Bagerhat, said the coordination between the public representatives and the administration in the fight against coronavirus was not seen in many places. “But the lack of coordination is not seen here in my place (upazila), though the public representatives don’t have so much responsibility here as they are just assisting the administration,” he said.     Awami League MP (Meherpur-2) Mohammad Shahiduzzaman and public health expert Dr Lelin Choudhury, among others, address the dialogue presided over by Dr Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury.