CUTA leaders come down hard on Muhith

CHITTAGONG, Sept 9: The Chittagong University Teachers' Association (CUTA) leaders termed the Finance Minister as 'outdated.'
General Secretary of CUTA Dr Kazi Khosrul Alam Quddusi said on Wednesday the Finance Minister had made derogatory statements about the university teachers.
Talking to journalists at his Secretariat office on Tuesday Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the university teachers were waging a movement due to their lack of knowledge.
"I am urging the teachers to stop ongoing movement and rather they should look to contain corruption," the minister said. There are so many professors compared to the lecturers in the public universities, he said adding the pay scale declared on Tuesday will not be further reviewed.
Protesting the remarks of the Finance Minister, the CUTA organised a rally in front of the Administration Building of Chittagong University on Wednesday. Chaired by president of CUTA Professor Benu Kumar Dey, the protest meeting was also addressed by other CUTA leaders and teachers.
Prof Quddusi said all the public universities of the country have separate Acts and the institutions are run according to those Acts.
He said that everything in a public university including employment of teachers and their promotion is accomplished as per rules of the respective university's laws.  
"The teachers get promotions through achieving higher degrees and publishing articles in the international journals on the prescribed issues. There is no scope of getting promotion through corruption in the university," he said in his speech.
He reminded everyone that the University Acts were formulated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the year 1973.
He said that Mr Muhith was once a government bureaucrat and during the regime of the autocratic Ershad government he became a member of the cabinet. "How would he realise the problems of the teachers?" he asked.
He warned that the teachers would demand resignation of the Finance Minister in the ongoing movement for a separate pay scale for the university teachers if "the minister works himself up".
    pankajdastider@gmail.com