TDS Desk:

The Jatiya Sangsad has passed legislation establishing a uniform maximum age limit of 32 years for direct recruitment across government, autonomous, and constitutional bodies.

The Bill, titled Determination of Upper Age Limit for Direct Recruitment in Government, Autonomous, Constitutional Government Authorities, Public Non-Financial Corporations including Self-Governing Bodies, 2026, was introduced by State Minister of the Ministry of Public Administration Md Abdul Bari.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed presided over the sitting where the measure was adopted via voice vote on Sunday (April 5).

Photo taken from tv

Under the new provision, the upper age ceiling for entry into the Bangladesh Civil Service cadres and all non-BCS government positions is set at 32 years.

Previous regulations limiting certain autonomous posts to 30 or under 32 years are now standardized to 32.

However, positions already designated with higher thresholds such as 35, 40, or 45 years remain unaffected to ensure no candidate loses eligibility opportunities.

Similarly, recruitment guidelines for defense forces and law enforcement agencies will continue to follow their specific existing statutes.

In his explanatory statement, the minister noted that increasing the age cap aims to create greater opportunities for educated unemployed youth and positively influence the labor market.

This legislative move replaces two earlier ordinances issued in 2024 and 2025 which were subsequently repealed due to technical complications. Specifically, the prior legal instruments inadvertently lowered the age limits for some specialized roles, causing ambiguity.

The current bill clarifies these ambiguities and preserves existing higher age criteria where applicable, converting the provisional measures into permanent law.