Kathmandu, June 30
Members of Parliament have demanded that the government reduce the minimum age requirement for applying for government jobs to 16 from 18.
As the new civil service bill is under discussion in the House of Representatives, multiple speakers during a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee in Parliament on Sunday demanded that people be allowed to apply for government jobs once they acquire the citizenship certificate if they meet other quality requirements.
The Citizenship Act qualifies a person to acquire the citizenship certificate after completing 16 years. However, the lawmakers’ suggestion is unlikely to get endorsed as international laws consider people below 18 years of age minors and employing them can be considered child labour exploitation.
The lawmakers also demanded that the age ceiling be lowered to 30 and 35 years for men and women respectively.
Some lawmakers advised for removing the minimum age bar entirely.
Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Lalbabu Pandit, however said the suggestions were not appropriate.
