TEACHERS of all 37 public universities across the country will go for indefinite strike from January 11 protesting several discriminatory provisions in the new National Pay Scale; which has downgraded their status and financial benefits in comparison with administrative cadre officers in bureaucracy. Public varsity teachers are demanding restoration of selection grade and time scale and pay equivalent to senior secretary level for certain percentage of professors. Another report said government college teachers would start work abstention from today while non-cadre government officers are also threatening to start work abstention. The discriminatory outlook of the government to university and college teachers has not missed the protest.
In fact, public university teachers have rejected the new pay scale from the beginning as it has merged their hitherto separate pay scale with National Pay Scale this time. Teachers alleged of their lower status and monetary benefits compared with their former students. It is not in keeping with their dignity and there is no doubt they deserve fair treatment. It is true that the government agreed to remove the anomalies but the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Association (FBUTA) has rejected a gazette notification in this respect as a ‘fake’ attempt to make the teachers fool. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry’s move to pay bureaucracy in full from January as per the new pay scale with arrears from July last led the FBUTA to give the call to shut all public varsities and join in street movements to realize their demands.
It is not difficult to visualize the seriousness of the situation when teachers of all public universities and government colleges will simultaneously paralyze the country’s higher education and academic institutions closing classes and sending students to their homes. In this situation, work abstention by other professional groups such as physicians, engineers and non-cadre officers as they are also threatening with agitation programme may create the volatility; which may be difficult for the government to ignore.
In fact, we must say that the government has triggered the crisis to this level by its attempt to appease the senior police and administrative cadre officers with a very lavish pay scale to buy their loyalty and use their support to continue its grip on power. And in doing so it is loading the tax-payers with additional burden to make fund available to pay the bureaucrats. There is no doubt that some self-seekers turncoat bureaucrats who are working as advisors of the government have misled the senior government leaders in matters of the new pay scale. But it has already turned into boomerang and the way out from the crisis appears not easy at this moment.
We must say that the government should treat all cadres in service without discrimination and enter into quick dialogue to defuse the crisis.
