Teachers under MPO scheme to protest with black cloths tied over their faces

Four protestors who fell ill while on hunger strike have been treated at Dhaka Medical College

Teachers and employees under the government’s monthly pay order (MPO) scheme who are protesting for increased allowances including house rent, will stage a protest march in Dhaka’s Shahbagh on Tuesday “with black cloth tied over their faces”.

It was announced by protest leader Delawar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO Education Nationalisation Alliance during the sit-in protests at the Central Shaheed Minar around 5:45pm on Monday.

He said, "At 12pm on Tuesday, we will take a position in Shahbagh with black cloth tied over our mouths, protest, and then leave.

“This will be a march; we won't stay there for too long. We will keep in mind the issue of public inconvenience. We want to keep our programmes peaceful."

Four protesters on the hunger strike at Shaheed Minar had fallen ill and received treatment from Dhaka Medical College Hospital by the afternoon.

Teachers and employees under the MPO scheme who are unable to join the protest at the Shaheed Minar will hold daily sit-ins at district and Upazila headquarters from 11am to noon, Azizi said.

The member secretary of the alliance said, “Many are falling sick during the indefinite hunger strike. If any life is lost as a result of this protest, the education advisor must take responsibility.”

Since Oct 12, the protesters have called for increasing the house rent allowance to 20 percent of their basic salary, an increase in medical allowance from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500, and a raise in festival allowances for MPO-listed staff from 50 percent to 75 percent of basic salary.

On Oct 17, they added a new demand: the nationalisation of all private educational institutions.

Meanwhile, leaders of multiple political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), National Citizen Party (NCP) and Jamaat-e-Islami and cultural group Inquilab Mancha have already expressed solidarity with the demands of the MPO-affiliated teachers and staff. The Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU), Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU), students of Dhaka University, Jagannath University, and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), as well as various teachers’ organisations have also expressed support for the demands of the teachers and employees.

The government had increased the house rent allowance by Tk 500 on Sept 30, but the announcement on Oct 5 was rejected by teachers.

Subsequent proposals sent to the finance ministry on Oct 6 suggested raising the house rent allowance to Tk 2,000–3,000.

At the moment, MPO-affiliated teachers receive salaries according to the national pay scale, a Tk 500 monthly medical allowance, and a festival allowance of 50 percent of base salary.