Press Secretary Saleh Shibli asserts that current Prime Minister Tarek Rahman had called for the reform of the quota system in government jobs as early as 2014. According to Shibli, Rahman expressed this need publicly on July 15, 2014, at an event in London's Tower Hill, stating that the quota system should be reduced to 5% to ensure merit-based evaluations. Shibli presented a video as evidence, where Rahman is heard discussing the need to reduce the existing quota system, which he believed covered nearly 50% of government jobs, to 5% to accommodate more meritorious candidates.
Shibli noted that although the quota reform movement began in 2018, Rahman had publicly expressed his views on the matter five years prior. The quota reform movement of 2024, led by anti-discrimination student activists, significantly impacted the country's political landscape, culminating in the ousting of the Awami League government during the July uprising. Following the interim government, the BNP returned to power in February, with Tarek Rahman, who had spent over a decade and a half in exile in the UK, being elected Prime Minister.
After assuming office, the BNP government initiated several measures to address employment and unemployment, including reopening closed industries, announcing the recruitment of one lakh nurses in the health sector, and launching language and technical training programs to send skilled manpower abroad. Shibli made these remarks during an interview with Prothom Alo while on a visit to London, before departing for Bangladesh on Monday.
