The review committee formed by the government has recommended that the age limit for entering government jobs be 35 years for boys and 37 years for girls.

Welcoming this news, the agitators demanded that a notification be issued within the next three days based on the recommendation.

However, some former government officials said, this could lead to an uncomfortable working environment in the cadre services and risk erosion of service command.

Currently in the country maximum 30 years can be applied for government jobs under general quota and maximum retirement age is 59 years.

However, in the case of children of freedom fighters and other quotas, this age limit is fixed at 32 and 60 years.

A century ago, an organization called Bangladesh General Chhatra Parishad started a movement to demand that the age limit for entering government service be increased from 30 years to 35 years from 2012. They have been giving their demands to the government on different occasions.

After the new government headed by Professor Muhammad Yunus took power, the government formed a committee when it started the movement of 'Applicant age limit of 35 students in the job'.

The work of the committee under the leadership of former advisor Abdul Mueed Chowdhury is to scrutinize the matter and make recommendations to the government.

Meanwhile, the organization of administrative cadre officers 'Administrative Service Association' applied to the cabinet department on September 5 to make the maximum age limit for entry into service 35 and retirement age 65 years.

In this context, the cabinet department sent the letter or proposal to the Ministry of Public Administration on September 18.

Recommendation and three day ultimatum

The five-member review committee on government service age limits has not officially released its recommendations to the media.

However, citing various related sources, it is known in the media that last week, this committee has given a report to the government expressing the rationale of increasing the age limit to the chief advisor.

It has been recommended that the maximum age limit for applying for the job should be 35 years. However, it is said that the opinion has been given in favor of making it 37 for girls.

Meanwhile, Shariful Hasan Shubo, convenor of the Students' Coordinating Council, who is seeking a job application age limit of 35, says that they have received information that this is not the only proposal of the committee.

Rather, they have put several options in that proposal, in which the limit of 32 or 33 years has also been mentioned.

He said, 35-37 years is a reflection of our expectations. This is what we hope will be adopted in the overall reality.

On the other hand, the agitators have fixed three days for issuing the notification based on the recommendations of the review committee.

And if that is not done, they held a press conference at Dhaka University's Madhur Canteen on Sunday, saying that they will start the movement again.

Imtiaz Hossain, the spokesperson of the agitators, said that the current government has appreciated their sentiments and they have constituted a commission.

He said that since this commission after listening to our arguments and research has come to the decision of 35 years for men and 37 years for women - we want notification to be issued as soon as possible according to that decision.

How can the effect be?

Although there has been talk of increasing the time limit for entering government jobs in Bangladesh for more than a century, there are many questions about the justification of increasing the age limit.

Also, many question whether raising the age limit for employment would create a burden for the country along with rising government expenditure.

Some of the former government officials told the BBC that if the age limit for entering the service is increased in this way, it will be harmful in the long run.

According to them, if someone applies at the age of 35, it will take another three to four years to complete the formalities of his written test, oral test, police verification, etc., and get a job, which means that his career starts at the age of about 40.

Former Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumder said in an interview given to BBC Bangla in 2018, if the age of entry to the job is increased to 35, then the talent of the youth cannot be utilized. Can anyone deny that young people are capable of a lot of work?

Majumdar is currently working as an advisor to the government.

Former senior secretary of the government, Abu Alam Mohammad Shahid Khan, says that if the age limit is increased for a few jobs in the cadre service, it will not give much benefit.

He thinks that the retirement age of these officials will also be a question.

He said, rather we should give more opportunities to the youth.

Incidentally, the age of application for cadre service was once raised to 50 years during the military ruler General Ershad in Bangladesh. Those officers of 82 batch are known as '650 cadre' in the administration.

About 20 of these officers got jobs at the age of 45 years.

The age limit for a BCS was then raised out of a demand to appoint a magistrate in each upazila, mainly due to the introduction of the upazila system.

An officer of the same batch, ACM Saiful Islam later retired as Additional Secretary. He joined the service at the age of 26.

Saiful Islam said, some in the same post for 25 years, some for 35 years or more - there is a risk of losing the service command.

Saiful Islam said, in our time, those who joined as magistrates at a much older age, were UNOs (upzilla executive officers) much younger than those. That's why many people have to face many problems. Working also became uncomfortable for many. Besides, the way the government can train a young officer of 24/25 years of age for work, it will not be possible with someone of 40 years of age. Young officers enjoy working in the field early in their careers, which may not be easy for someone in their forties leaving behind a family.

He thinks that the age limit should be reduced to 27 in some services including foreign affairs, police and administration.

He said, the country will benefit if the age limit for entering these services is reduced to 27 to fulfill the responsibilities by gaining skills and experience.

But in many countries there is no age limit for entry into government service - in this regard, he said, police and civil administration are in the hands of local governments and they hire or fire at will. The New York police are under the control of New York City. They hire or fire. Will it be possible in Bangladesh?

Ex-officials feel that this will have a social impact apart from the employment sector and will create reluctance among many to create educated entrepreneurs.

As a result, there is a fear among many that many educated people may get stuck in the cycle of long-term unemployment.