Polytechnic students block roads, rails over 4-point demand
Students from polytechnic institutes staged blockades in Dhaka and several districts yesterday to press home their four-point demands, including the introduction of a single-track system in engineering education to eliminate discrimination in jobs.
The blockades on roads and rail tracks for several hours led to long tailbacks in the capital and other major cities and disrupted railway services, causing immense suffering to commuters and passengers.
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In the capital, students of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute blocked a road at Satrasta intersection in Tejgaon, triggering traffic congestions on adjacent roads.
Witnesses said students gathered on the campus in the morning before marching towards Satrasta around 11:15am.
They continued the blockade until 2:30pm and left after announcing fresh protest programmes for today.
Mashfiq Islam Dewan, president of Technical Students Movement of Bangladesh, said they would wage a tougher movement until their demands were met.
"Today [yesterday], students of all polytechnic institutes across the country staged sit-ins, demos, and blockades at key points in their respective districts. Tomorrow [today], we will paste the unjust three-point demands of the BSc engineering students on scarecrows across polytechnic institutes and set them on fire as a symbolic protest," he said.
The four-point demand of protesting diploma students includes ensuring the maximum punishment for those who, under the banner of the Engineering Rights Movement, threatened them; immediately stopping all state activities in support of what they termed the "unreasonable" three-point demand of BSc engineering students; fully implementing the six-point demand framework and recommendations raised by the Technical Students' Movement of Bangladesh; and introducing a one-channel education system in engineering.
Similar rail and road blockade programmes were observed yesterday in Kushtia, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Tangail, Pabna, Bogura, Cumilla, Barishal, and Gazipur.
The conflict between polytechnic (diploma) students and BSc engineering students has been going on for a long time. Polytechnic students have been waging protests to press home various demands, including converting the diploma engineering programme into a full four-year course, and ensuring that only diploma holders can apply for the post of deputy assistant engineer (Grade-10) and equivalent positions.
On the other hand, BSc engineering students' three-point demand includes recruitment for Grade-9 (assistant engineer or equivalent) posts based on competitive examinations with a minimum qualification of a BSc in engineering; scrapping the existing 100 percent quota for diploma holders in Grade-10 (sub-assistant engineer or equivalent) posts; and allowing BSc and MSc degree holders to apply for those positions as well.
On August 27, the government formed an eight-member committee, headed by Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan, to examine the demands raised by graduate and diploma engineers.
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