Non-government teachers and employees on the monthly pay order scheme on Monday morning began fast unto death programme after a three-day hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka demanding a pay increase.
They, under the banner of MPO-bhukto Shikkha Jatiyakaran Pratyashi Jote, continued their non-stop sit-in there and countrywide work abstention for the eighth day on Monday to press home their three-point demand.
Their demands include allocation of 20 per cent of their basic pay for house rent allowance, Tk 1,500 for medical allowance and an increase in the festival allowance for employees from the current 50 per cent to 75 per cent.
Several hundred protesters started joining the demonstration from the morning while a group of protesters began fast unto death at about 10:00am.
Protesters also held a rally on the Central Shaheed Minar premise to press their demands.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party joint secretary general Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, along with other leader and activists of the party, visited the Central Shaheed Minar in the morning and expressed solidarity with the protesters.
On October 19, the Finance Division approved the allocation of 5 per cent of their basic pay (minimum Tk 2,000) for house rent, which the protesters termed as a 鈥榩rimary victory鈥� and vowed to continue their movement until their demand for 20 per cent of their basic pay as house rent allowance and two other demands were fulfilled.
Protesters are organising different programmes simultaneously to press home their demands, such as an indefinite hunger strike since October 17, and a continuous sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar and countrywide work abstention since October 13.
They also blocked roads and held marches towards the Bangladesh Secretariat and the Shikkha Bhaban during their protests.
The recent spate of protests by the MPO teachers and employees started on October 12, when the police used force to disperse them from the National Press Club.
At the entry level, an assistant teacher of the secondary schools under the MPO system gets Tk聽12,500 as gross salary, Tk聽1,000 as house rent and Tk聽500 as treatment allowance.