PM assurance pacifies non-MPO teachers
Our Correspondent
Teachers and employees of non-government educational institutions who are outside the purview of the monthly payment order (MPO) facility formally withdrew their ongoing hunger-strike yesterday after obtaining an assurance from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The president of the Non-MPO Institutions Teachers-Employees Federation, Principal Golam Mahmudunnabi, told journalists that the personal secretary to the PM, Sajjadul Haque, came to them and delivered the Premiers message that their demands would be fulfilled.
Quoting Haque, the leader said, The Prime Minister has directed the education ministry to immediately fulfil the demand. We had a firm belief that the Prime Minister, who is the mother of humanity, would empathise with our sufferings. She has expressed consent to our just rights and issued directives to the education ministry, he added.
Replying to a query, he said, We dont have any apprehensions that our demand would not be fulfilled because we believe the Prime Minister is committed to her directives. That is why we did not insist on any specific date.
We are withdrawing our programme from today onwards. We will go back to our workplaces now and continue our normal activities, he said.
Soon after the announcement, the teachers and employees called off their 11-day-long programme, which included a five-day-long sit-in programme and a six-day-long hunger-strike in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
Soon after receiving the PMs assurances, the teachers and employees gave a resounding cheer of victory. They shouted slogans like Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu and We have got MPO.
Though there is no exact figure of the numbers of non-government teachers and employees, it is estimated that some 75,000 teachers and employees of 5,242 non-government educational institutions are outside the ambit of the MPO facility. The government has kept the inclusion of non-government educational institutions under the MPO system pending since 2010.
The teachers and employees of these institutions complained that they have not been getting any salary though they have been giving their services for a long time. They said they had hit the streets to draw the attention of the government as they had had no other option. They started their sit-in programme on December 26 last year but later went in for an intensive programmethe hunger-strikefrom December 31. They ended it yesterday (Friday) only after the PMs assurance.
Earlier, on Tuesday, though education minister Nurul Islam Nahid along with senior officials of the ministry met the teachers in front of the Jatiya Press Club and gave an assurance that their demand would be fulfilled but would require some time, the teachers turned down the ministers assurance. Then they said they wanted a specific date and the Prime Ministers assurance that their demand will be fulfilled. Ultimately, they did get such an assurance from the Premier, after which they withdrew the strike.
The teachers were jubilant that they had realised their legitimate demands though they had badly suffered under the open sky in the biting cold of winter.
During the hunger-strike, at least 100 teachers fell ill on different days and had to be hospitalised. Many of them were treated with intravenous saline therapy after they became weak, thanks to the prolonged hunger-strike they had staged. They promised to return to their respective workplaces and resume their normal activities at their respective educational institutions.
