Teachers and employees under the government’s monthly pay order (MPO) plan would march in Dhaka’s Shahbagh on Tuesday “with black cloth tied over their faces” to demand better allowances, including housing rent.
Protest leader Delawar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO Education Nationalisation Alliance, made the announcement during Monday’s sit-in protests at the Central Shaheed Minar at 5:45pm.
He stated, “At 12:00pm on Tuesday, we will take a position in Shahbagh with a black cloth tied around our mouths, protest, and then leave.”
“This will be a march; we won’t stay there for too long. We will keep in mind the issue of public inconvenience. We want to keep our programmes peaceful.”
Four protesters on the hunger strike at Shaheed Minar had fallen ill and received treatment from Dhaka Medical College Hospital by the afternoon.
Teachers and MPO employees who are unable to attend the Shaheed Minar protest will hold daily sit-ins at district and Upazila headquarters from 11:00am to noon, according to Azizi.
The alliance’s member secretary stated, “Many people are becoming sick throughout the ongoing hunger strike. If anyone dies as a result of this protest, the education advisor must accept responsibility.”
Since October 12, protesters have requested raising the house rent allowance to 20per cent of their basic income, increasing the medical allowance from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500, and increasing festival allowances for MPO-listed staff from 50per cent to 75per cent of their basic salary.
On October 17, they introduced a new demand: the nationalisation of all private educational institutions.
Meanwhile, officials from a number of political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), National Citizen Party (NCP), and Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as the artistic group Inquilab Mancha, have voiced solidarity with the MPO-affiliated teachers and staff. The Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU), students from Dhaka University, Jagannath University, and BUET, as well as various teacher organisations, have all shown support for the teachers’ and employees’ demands.
The government had increased the house rent allowance by Tk 500 on Sept 30, but the announcement on Oct 5 was rejected by teachers.
Additional proposals submitted to the finance ministry on October 6 suggested enhancing the house rent allowance from Tk 2,000 to 3,000.
Right now, MPO-affiliated teachers are paid according to the national pay scale, with a monthly medical allowance of Tk 500 and a festival allowance of 50per cent of basic income.
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