No immediate plan to raise retirement age

The government has no plan right now to increase the existing retirement age in the government service, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told parliament yesterday.

The premier, however, said the government might consider the matter in future.

She said this in reply to a supplementary question from Jatiya Party MP Fakhrul Imam. The JP lawmaker wanted to know whether the government has any plan to increase the retirement age limit from 59 to 62.

Hasina said increasing the retirement age would create various problems as many public servants could not get due promotions for which many of them had to leave their jobs.

She argued that if the government increases the retirement age all on a sudden, the scope for promotion in the lower tiers would decline.

Secondly, the PM said, Bangladesh is a country of over 16 crore people and “we'll have to expand the scope of jobs for all”.

Hasina said the Awami League government first raised the retirement age limit to 59 years from 57. Also, the retirement age of the freedom fighters was raised to 60 years.

“The more we'll raise the age bar, the scope of entering government jobs for others will decline. So, we don't want to reduce that scope,” she said.

Replying to another supplementary question, the PM informed the House that there is no obstruction for the investors to invest in the country. She said some 100 special economic zones are being set up, where the local and foreign investors could invest easily.

She also said steps are being taken so that local investors are allowed to invest abroad on a limited scale.

In a scripted answer, the premier informed that the number of exportable items and the number of export destinations also rose to 750 and 199 respectively.

Meanwhile, speaking on a point of order, Jatiya Party MP Kazi Feroz Rashid said there are many spots in the capital including Gulshan, Gulistan, Paltan and Dhanmondi where street children openly use illegal drugs damaging their lives. The premier instantly replied that she has taken notes of the matter and will give instruction to launch a drive right away to stop children from using drugs. She also urged the MPs to look into the matter in their respective constituencies.