Demos for raising job entry age halt traffic at Shahbagh for an hour

Several hundred youths have staged demonstrations at Shahbagh in the capital, demanding that the highest age for entry into government jobs be increased to 35 years.

The agitation left Shahbagh and its adjacent areas in gridlock as traffic through the Shahbagh intersection remained halted for around 45 minutes from around 4pm on Friday.

Shahbagh police OC Abu Bakar Siddique said traffic had resumed at around 4:45pm after police dispersed the demonstrators.

Police detained three of the agitators from the scene.

bdnews24.com Correspondent Kamal Talukder reported from Shahbagh that the youths, under the banner of General Students Council, gathered in front of the National Museum in the afternoon.

“Traffic came to a halt as they reached the Shahbagh intersection at around 4pm,” he said.

An organiser of the demonstration said the maximum age for entering government jobs has been retained at 30 years even though the retirement age of public servants has been increased from 57 to 59 years. The age of retirement is 65 years for teachers and 67 years for judges.

“This is increasing the number of unemployed people,” he said.

He also said a student crosses the 30-year age limit due to ‘session jam’ in educational institutions, so the age bar should be raised to 35 years.

bdnews24.com correspondent Kamal Talukder said police first tried to remove the demonstrators by talking the issue out.

The law enforcers chased them away from the street after around half an hour, as they paid no heed to their call, Talukder said.

The demonstrators then gathered in front of the National Museum.