Protesters to continue movement until gazette abolishing quotas in govt jobs

Students demanding reforms to the government job quotas say they view the recommendation to abolish the preferential system in first and second-class jobs as a positive move.

But they will press on with their movement until the government gazettes appointment of public servants only on the basis of merit.

The Bangladesh Council to Protect General Students’ Rights, which has been demonstrating for the quota reforms, made the announcement after a government committee handed its recommendations to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.

The council said at a news briefing at Dhaka University that they would go ahead with a planned protest march on Tuesday.

“We are taking the report by the cabinet secretary positively. It has recommended abolishing quotas from ninth to 13th grade. We demand reasonable reforms to the other grades as well,” the council’s Convenor Hasan Al Mamun said.

“And our movement will continue until the publication of a gazette on the reforms,” he added.

Mamun also demanded withdrawal of cases against the protesters and punishment of those who were behind violence during the protests.

The quota system allows the government to preserve 56 percent posts in jobs for different quotas. These quotas include 30 percent for families or descendants of freedom fighters, 10 percent for women, 10 percent for particular districts, 5 percent for small ethnic groups, and 1 percent for people with disabilities.

Students and jobseekers have been protesting against the system, demanding that the total posts preserved for different quotas be brought down to 10 percent.

When the quota reform protests peaked, Hasina told parliament on Apr 11 that she would rather see the system go. Later, she said that 30 percent of quota will remain as per the directive of the High Court.

The government, however, formed the committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam on June 2 to reform the quota scheme.

If the committee’s recommendations were to be accepted, the 56 percent quota for government jobs will be rolled back and the positions will be filled up on merit.

The proposal will be presented before the cabinet after it gets the prime minister’s approval, Alam said. Once it receives cabinet approval, it can be issued as a gazette as early as next month, he added.