The students of the Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology on Sunday at a demonstration demanded reforms in engineering job recruitment.
Their demand came from a human chain which they formed in front of North-West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited headquarters in Rajshahi city.
Attended by several hundred students under the banner of 鈥楻UET general students鈥�, they raised a three-point demand charter to end the alleged discrimination in job circulars, unfair quota provision and irregular promotion in the public institutions related to posts requiring engineers.
Their demands are: recruitment for the post of assistant engineer must be conducted directly through government recruitment exams without any promotional quota; the sub-assistant engineer posts should be open exclusively to BSc engineering graduates, with the existing diploma-holder quota abolished; and a probe has to be carried out into the allegations that over 33 per cent of assistant engineers at Northern Electricity Supply Private Limited Company, NESCO in short, who have been promoted are diploma engineers and corrective measures must be taken.
Tanjimul Islam, a third-year mechanical engineering student, said that quota was destroying the future of qualified engineers.
鈥楧iploma holders are enjoying all the facilities, while BSc engineers like us are not even allowed to apply. What鈥檚 the point of our education then?鈥� he said.
Echoing him, Alamin Islam Rocky of civil engineering department said that they could not even apply for the posts of sub-assistant engineer.
鈥楾hese are entirely occupied by diploma holders who secured internal promotions. There is no space for fresh graduates, no circulars. Quota and unlawful promotions are behind this problem,鈥� he alleged.
Mirat Safin Turjo, a second-year student of electrical and electronic engineering department, alleged that graduates from BUET and RUET were being forced to work under diploma engineers.
鈥榃hat kind of system is this? Technicians are being promoted to engineers, while real BSc engineers are left out of jobs,鈥� he added.
The demonstrating students demanded immediate steps from NESCO and authorities concerned to eliminate quota-based discrimination, and ensure that engineering graduates from universities get fair access to recruitment and promotion.
They also threatened for a tougher programme if their demands were not met soon.
Among others, students Toufiq Tushar, Mehran Al Banna Yusha, Md Ismail and Abrar Faiyaz Ami spoke at the human chain.
