B'desh SC scales back govt job quotas following violent unrest; over 100 dead

Ruling on an appeal, the court reduces veterans' quota to 5%, allocates 93% of jobs on merit, 2% for minorities, transgender, and disabled

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Bangladesh's top court on Sunday scaled back a controversial quota system for government job applicants, a partial victory for student protesters after days of nationwide unrest and deadly clashes between police and demonstrators that have killed scores of people. Bangladeshi authorities haven't shared any official numbers of those killed and injured, but at least four local newspapers on Sunday reported that over 100 people have been killed.

Students, frustrated by shortages of good jobs, have been demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971.

The government previously halted it in 2018 following mass student protests, but in June, Bangladesh's High Court reinstated the quotas and set off a new round of protests.

Ruling on an appeal, the Supreme Court ordered that the veterans' quota be cut to 5 per cent, with 93 per cent of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2 per cent will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.