The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Teachers’ Association called for the cancellation of the universal pension notification, claiming that it is discriminatory.
In support of the demand, teachers of the university brought out a silent procession and held a human chain in front of Dr Jamilur Reza Choudhury Engineering Building of BUET on Sunday at about 12:15pm.
The procession paraded important roads of the BUET and ended at the BUET Shaheed Minar.
A human chain was then formed, where the teachers highlighted the discriminatory nature of the notification and demanded that the government cancel it immediately.
At the human chain, BUET teachers’ association president professor Md Mizanur Rahman said, ‘If everyone is brought under the same pension scheme, we will have no objection. But it is unacceptable that government employees will be given maximum benefits and others will be discriminated.’
Emphasising that the movement’s demands will be met, he said, ‘I strongly demand immediate withdrawal of the discriminatory pension scheme notification that has been issued. If it is not withdrawn, we will be compelled to make the authorities to withdraw this notification through a movement involving the entire teaching community and employees.’
On Sunday, meanwhile, at about 12:15pm, BUET officials and employees formed a human chain in front of the BUET Shaheed Minar in support of the same demand.
At the human chain, the speakers said, ‘The discriminatory notification on universal pension issued by the Ministry of Finance should be immediately withdrawn and all teachers, officers and employees working in public universities should be exempted from the purview of this law.’
‘Officials and employees must be paid their salaries on the new pay scale in the forthcoming budget. Otherwise, we will realise our demands through a movement led by the Inter-University Employees Federation,’ they added.
Earlier, the BUET teachers’ association issued a statement, demanding the withdrawal of the latest notification over the UPS introduced in August, 2023.
The statement mentioned that the new pension scheme is harmful to the quality of education and research in universities, stating that recruiting talented teachers is a challenging task, and this new pension scheme will discourage talented students from pursuing a teaching career in universities.
On March 13, the Ministry of Finance in a notification said that all officers and employees who joined the service of all autonomous, self-governing, nationalised, statutory or similar organisations and their subordinate institutions on or after July 1, 2024, would be brought under the universal pension scheme.
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