MPO-listed teachers, staff reject 5.0pc hike in house rent allowance

Teachers and staffers from MPO-listed private educational institutions staged a "hunger march" with empty plates, rejecting the government's decision to raise their house rent allowance by only 5.0 per cent.

Hundreds of teachers and employees of the MPO-listed private educational institutions joined the march to press home their demands.

The march, which began at around 3:15pm on Sunday from the Central Shaheed Minar heading towards the Ministry of Education However, was stopped by police at the High Court intersection after passing through Doel Chattar.

More than a hundred police personnel and six platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were deployed at the area.

The protesters chanted slogans like: "Accept our demands or shoot us", "We reject the 5.0 per cent notification," "This is a mockery, not a solution."

Earlier on the day, the Ministry of Finance approved a 5.0 per cent (minimum Tk 2,000) increase in house rent for MPO-listed teachers and staffers.

A gazette notification, signed by Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Mitu Mariam, mentioned that the Finance Division has given its nod to the enhancement of house rent allowance.

"Considering the budgetary limitations of the government, the house rent allowance for MPO-listed teachers and employees of non-government educational institutions will be provided at the rate of 5.0 per cent of their basic pays, with a minimum of Tk 2,000," said the notification.

In this respect, the notification, however, put in place some conditions including--the house rent allowance must be adjusted according to the subsequent national pay scale.

On the other hand, the protesting teachers have been protesting for the eighth consecutive day to realise their three-point demand including a 20 per cent or minimum Tk 3,000 hike in the house rent.

Talking to newsmen at his office, Education Adviser Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar expressed his hope that the protesting MPO teachers and employees would return to their classes as the government announced a 5.0 per cent hike (minimum Tk 2,000) in the house rent allowance for them.

"The Ministry of Education has always tried to uphold the interests of teachers," he said.

Mr Abrar said: "We think the teachers need to get a lot more. But due to the current limitations, the decision has been made and the Ministry of Finance has allocated it. We have tried enough from our side."

Before the march began, Delwar Hossain Azizi, Member Secretary of the Nationalization-Seeking Alliance of MPO Teachers and Employees, addressed the crowd at Shaheed Minar.

"The government has issued a notification granting a 5.0 per cent house rent allowance. We reject it outright. This is just a partial achievement, not our final victory. We will not stop our movement until full nationalisation is ensured," he said.

The agitating teachers had a meeting with BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir before they began the march.

"We presented our demands to him (Mirza Fakhrul), and he expressed his support. He assured us that the BNP stands with our movement and will extend full cooperation," said Mr Azizi.

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