Staff Reporter :Job seekers on Friday blocked the city’s Shahbagh intersection for about one hour demanding the extension of age limit for government jobs.The demonstrators halted transport movement on the busy intersection for raising age limit to 35 years under the banner of Bangladesh General Students’ Parishad. Police dispersed them around 4:45pm and cleared the road. The demonstrators were hoisting a banner that sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s attention.Civil service is the single largest job sector of the country. It has become more lucrative to students after the government doubled the salary for civil servants in the latest pay scale last year.Currently, the age limit for civil service is 30. Demonstrators argue that the ceiling should be raised to 35. They allege that the education system gives general students little time to “fight” for the job.Meanwhile, police detained more than 15 demonstrators from the spot, including the organization’s President Md Imtiaz Hossain and General Secretary Nuruzzaman Chandan.”When the life expectancy was 50, we had an age limit of 30. Now when the life expectancy is 75, what should be the age limit?” said Imtiaz Hossain, a Dhaka University student and the president of Bangladesh General Student’s Union.Several demonstrators said, they will have no choice but to commit suicide”if the age ceiling is not increased. They said session clots at government colleges and universities ate up “too much” of their life.One of the demonstrators, Md Shakhawat Hossain said, “Bhawal University College student Abdul Ali was injured during the baton charge. He was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).”Additional Deputy Comissioner of Police (Ramna zone) Md Ibrahim Khan said that they had detained them to take the control of the situation.”They will be freed later after interrogation in this connection,” the police official said. Police only dispersed the demonstration at about 4:00pm, said Abu Bakar Siddique, Officer-in-Charge of Shahbagh Police Station.
