Public university teachers slate Finance Minister Muhith for deriding their demonstrations

An organisation of public university teachers, pressing for a separate pay scale, says it finds Finance Minister AMA Muhith’s comment about their demonstration ‘rude’ and ‘uncalled for’.

It has dubbed the minister a ‘representative of the bureaucrats’ and said the teachers will not get justice from him.

A statement from the university teachers’ federation on Tuesday night said the minister’s comments were not only ‘unnecessary but also incoherent’.

Teachers of 37 public universities abstained from work to press for demands including scrapping the selection grade in the new pay scale.

Muhith said he did not see any good reason for their having to abstain from work to push for demands.

He criticised the movement, saying the teachers were demonstrating “due to the lack of knowledge” and that they had “no idea” what the pay scale offered them.

The government on Monday cleared the eighth pay scale with a basic pay ranging between Tk 8,250 and Tk 78,000.

It did not, however, mention anything separately about the selection grade of professors who enjoyed the top grade in the seventh pay scale along with the secretaries and major generals.

 

Muhith also alleged the universities promoted teachers without following any rules, dubbing it a ‘corrupt practice’.

The teachers’ federation said they were promoted based on specific guidelines, approved by the University Grants Commission and relevant government agencies.

Tuesday’s statement said the teachers would accept any ‘constructive proposal’.

It said the minister sounded like a ‘representative of the bureaucrats rather than the people’ when speaking about the teacher’s demonstration.

“We don’t think the teachers will get justice from him,” the statement, issued in Bengali said.

The statement also criticised Muhith for ‘questioning’ the teachers’ knowledge.

“His irresponsible comments resulted from his lack of knowledge about the universities, teachers and academic activities,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Jagannath University teachers have announced work abstention for next Wednesday and Thursday protesting against Muhith’s comment and pressing for their four-point charter of demand.

JnU Teachers’ Association General Secretary Prof Abul Hossain told bdnews24.com they would also organise sit-in protests for two hours from 11am on the day.