Scientists, officers, and employees of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission on Wednesday announced that they would go for a tougher programme after Eid-ul-Azha if their 11-point demand — including the re-establishment of the commission’s autonomy — was not met.
Addressing a press conference at the commission’s headquarters in the capital’s Agargaon, ASM Saifullah, president of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Scientist Association, said that the Ministry of Science and Technology had not held any discussions about the problems faced by the commission.
‘If the ministry continues its non-cooperation, we will go for a tougher programme like work abstention and service stoppage after the Eid vacation,’ he said.
Saifullah, who also serves as a chief scientific officer at the commission, said that the sit-in, which began on April 27 and ran from 10:00am to 12:00 noon each day, would continue at the commission’s head office at Agargaon as well as its 40 affiliated institutes across the country until the start of the Eid vacation, scheduled to begin on June 5.
The ministry’s unwarranted interference and authoritarian behaviour have only intensified, as evidenced by a particularly development on May 13, when the Ministry of Finance unexpectedly issued a letter warning that government financial support for the BAEC in the 2025–26 fiscal year will be suspended if the commission is not integrated into the Integrated Budget and Accounting System, IBAS, he said.
He said that the science and technology ministry had previously stopped funding, which led to their salaries being halted this year due to issues with the implementation of the iBAS++ system.
He also said that there had also been worrying threats to financially weaken the commission, including plans to halt mandatory radioactivity testing of imported food and efforts to shut down affordable ultrasound services at the Institutions of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences.
As part of the ongoing movement demanding the implementation of the 11-point charter, a mass gathering was held at the commission’s head office, with scientists, officers, and employees of all ranks from its institutions in Dhaka and Savar taking part in it.
Their demands included the permanent appointment of a chairperson and members to fill vacant posts and form a full commission, an immediate end to ministerial interference in matters under the commission’s jurisdiction to preserve its autonomy and ensure a respectful, research-friendly work environment, upholding the commission’s authority to maintain the commission’s funds in scheduled banks and manage its necessary expenditures in accordance with Sections 20(1) and 20(2) of the BAEC Act 2017 and reinstating all demoted scientists, officers, and employees to their designated grades to eliminate existing discrimination.
