Committee gets 90 more working days to review quotas in govt jobs

The government has extended the term of the committee to review quota system in government jobs by 90 working days.

The public administration ministry issued an order on the extension on Thursday, four days before its deadline to file the report was to end.  

The government formed the seven-strong committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam on June 2, around two and a half months after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ‘announcement’ to abolish quotas in government jobs.    

The quota system allows the government to preserve 56 percent posts in public jobs for different quotas. These quotas include 30 percent for families of freedom fighters, 10 percent for women, 10 percent for particular districts, 5 percent for small ethnic groups, and 1 percent for people with disabilities.

Students and jobseekers have been protesting against the system, demanding that the total posts preserved for different quotas be brought down to 10 percent.  

When the quota reform protests peaked, Hasina told parliament on Apr 11 that she would rather see the system go than sufferings of the people due to repeated protests.

She also said a committee headed by the cabinet secretary would be formed to look after the quota issue.

But recently, Hasina ruled out abolishing the quota reserved for freedom fighters’ ancestors in government jobs, citing Supreme Court verdict in support of her position on the quota issue.

The committee formed to review the quota system sat for the first time on July 8 to fix its course of action. 

It also decided to collect information on quotas in government jobs in other countries.