Dhaka, Dec 19 (bdnews24.com) — The cabinet has cleared a proposal that will allow public servants to work for two more years, before retiring at 59.
Cabinet Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told the media about the move on Monday after a meeting of the cabinet headed by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The president will issue an ordinance to make the new provision effective since the issue is of urgent public importance, he added.
The retirement age for public servants -- 57 years -- was fixed after independence.
"The approved proposal to bring amendment to the Public Service Retirement Act-1974 will be sent to the president for his endorsement. The ordinance will be issued after that," Bhuiyan said.
He said the cabinet discussed at length both pros and cons of the proposal to extend the retirement age. Among the many justifications in favour of raising the work years for government employees is the fact that both lifespan and health of the people have, over the years, gone up significantly, Bhuiyan said.
Among opinions against the proposal, he said, it was argued that raising the retirement age will get in the way of creating more employment.
According to Bhuiyan, after hearing both set of contentions, Hasina remarked that there would be no problem in creating new employment opportunities and ensuring promotion if the retirement age is raised.
Instead, she observed, there are 200,000 vacant posts against 1.2 million approved posts, according to the Cabinet Division secretary. During the meeting Hasina directed authorities to fulfill those vacant posts, Bhuiyan said.
NO BENEFIT FOR RETIRED OFFICIALS
Asked whether officials and employees who have already gone into leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) will get the benefit, Bhuiyan said: "As per previous rules, the LPR system has been changed and now made post-retirement leave (PRL). In this view, those have already retired will not get any benefit once the decision is implemented."
Besides clearing the proposal to amend Public Service Retirement Act-1974, the cabinet also endorsed a proposal to preserve 1 percent quota for persons with disabilities in government jobs, Bhuiyan said.
OTHER ACTS PASSED
The meeting also gave a nod to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, the Bangladesh Applied Nutrition Research and Training Institute Act, and the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (Amendment) Act.
It also gave in-principle approval to the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority Act.
The Tobacco Goods (Control) (Amendment) Act was, meanwhile, sent back for further scrutiny.
An annual report on the activities of various ministries and divisions of the government for 2010-2011 financial year was placed and discussed at the meeting. It revealed that there was progress in implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) over the last fiscal.
The implementation rate is 92 percent of the revised ADP in 2010-11 fiscal, while it was 91 percent in 2009-10, it was stated. "This year, it has been possible to spend (a further) Tk 70 billion of the revised ADP over last year's," Bhuiyan added.
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