MPO-Listed Teachers, Employees Threaten March to Secretariat Over House Rent Allowance

Teachers and employees under the MPO (Monthly Pay Order) scheme, who are currently holding a “continuous sit-in” programme demanding 20 percent of their basic salary as house rent allowance, have given the government a deadline until 12 PM on Tuesday to meet their demands.

Failing to do so, they have announced a “March to Secretariat” programme.

On Monday, for the second consecutive day, MPO-listed teachers and employees continued their sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar. The programme is being held under the banner of the “MPO-Listed Education Nationalisation Aspiring Alliance.”

The alliance’s joint convenor and president of the Bangladesh Teachers Forum (BTF), Md Habibullah Razu, a platform of NTRCA-recommended teachers, said they would also stay at the Shaheed Minar through the night.

Speaking to bdnews24.com at 8 PM, he said, “The government has been given a deadline until Tuesday afternoon to issue a notification accepting our demands: 20 percent of the basic salary as house rent allowance, Tk 1,500 as medical allowance, and 75 percent of basic salary as festival bonus for staff.

“If our demands are not met through an official notification, we will carry out the 'March to Secretariat' programme. Until the notification is issued, the sit-in and work abstention will continue.”

In protest against the “police attack” on demonstrators on Sunday, MPO-listed teachers and employees had earlier declared a "continuous work abstention" across private MPO-affiliated educational institutions starting Monday. While some institutions complied, classes continued in many others.

During the morning sit-in on Monday, the alliance’s member secretary, Principal Delwar Hossain Azizi, told bdnews24.com, “According to our information, 90 percent of institutions are observing work abstention. Some are not. But overall, the MPO-listed education system has come to a standstill.”

On Sunday morning, the teachers and employees began their indefinite sit-in programme in front of the National Press Club. At around 1:30 PM, at the police’s request, they agreed to move to the Central Shaheed Minar to continue their protest. However, a section of the protesters chose to remain in front of the Press Club.

When police asked this group to move to the Shaheed Minar, some of them started chanting "false, false" slogans. At one point, police used sound grenades and batons to disperse the teachers from the street in front of the Press Club. A water cannon was also brought to the scene.

In protest of this incident, a countrywide work abstention was announced at all private educational institutions starting Monday.

On September 30, the government increased the house rent allowance for MPO-listed teachers and employees by Tk 500. However, once the announcement became public on October 5, the teachers rejected it and called for protests.

Subsequently, on October 6, the Ministry of Education sent a proposal to the Finance Division to raise the house rent allowance for MPO-listed teachers and employees to at least Tk 2,000 or Tk 3,000.

MPO-listed teachers and employees receive salaries according to the national pay scale. Along with their basic salary, they receive a monthly medical allowance of Tk 500. Previously, they received a house rent allowance of Tk 1,000, which has now been increased to Tk 1,500.

Earlier, they used to receive two festival bonuses a year at a rate of 25 percent of their basic salary. In May this year, the rate was increased to 50 percent.