‘If govt doesn’t issue gazette by 12pm tomorrow, we’ll march towards Jamuna’
Teachers from non-government MPO-listed institutions, who have been demonstrating for days, today threatened to march towards the chief adviser's residence Jamuna tomorrow to press for a 20 percent house rent allowance and other demands.
Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO Nationalisation Expectant Alliance -- the platform leading the protests -- made the announcement around 5:00pm, shortly before ending their three-hour blockade at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "If the government does not issue a gazette notification by 12:00pm tomorrow, we will march towards Jamuna," Azizi told the protesters.
"If the gazette is not issued, we will not confine ourselves to the three-point demand; rather, we will launch a one-point demand -- nationalisation," he said.
"No one will be able to stop us from pursuing our legitimate demand. If necessary, we will even risk our lives and our bodies will return home," he said.
Following his announcement, the protesting teachers began leaving Shahbagh for Central Shaheed Minar, where they have been observing a sit-in for five days.
Earlier, around 1:45pm, the teachers marched to Shahbagh after their ultimatum for the issuance of a circular, meeting their demands, expired at 12:00pm.
Police tried to stop the procession in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh, but the demonstrators -- chanting slogans and carrying banners -- broke through the barricade and took position at one of the busiest intersections around 2:00pm, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Commuters suffered immensely as vehicles remained stuck for about three hours, forcing many to walk to their destinations.
"The 20 percent house rent allowance cannot be reduced by even one percent... The festival allowance for employees has to be 75 percent," he said.
On August 13, the teachers held a rally at Press Club and issued an ultimatum to fulfil their demands by September 14, but postponed their strike following assurances from the education ministry.
At the entry level, MPO-listed teachers receive a monthly salary of Tk 12,500, including Tk 1,000 as house rent, Tk 500 as medical allowance, and 50 percent of their basic pay as festival allowance.
Recently, the finance ministry approved a Tk 500 rise in the house rent allowance, which the teachers rejected, calling it "insufficient."
Currently, there are over 26,000 MPO-listed non-government institutions in the country, employing around 3.8 lakh teachers and 1.7 lakh staff members.
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