Campus Report :
University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC) has been closed for two months, but no one seems bother of it. Nearly 3,000 students of the USTC were facing severe disruptions to their studies as a work abstention by teachers and other employees demanding implementation of service rules entered a 46th day on July 13, 2014.
Thousands of student’s educational life is endangered due to this institutions closure. University authorities are careless, such as lacking of any government initiative to resolve the deadlock. Teachers, officials, doctors and staff members, under the banner of “Teachers-Doctors and Officials-Employees Coordination Parishad”, have been abstaining from work every day from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm since May 18, hampering academic and administrative activities.
Students of the university’s medical faculty, meanwhile, alleged that around 1,200 students of batches 26 and 27 were not registered with the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council. “The issue has been raised with the higher authorities several times. But, they are not paying any heed”, said Kumar Biswajit Bisu, a student representative. Campus sources said the university has around 300 teachers and 150 staff members, and over 3,000 students, including 800 foreigners.
The university is sponsored by Janasheba Foundation, a private charity. A nine-member trustee board runs the university, established in May 1989. Kamal Uddin, joint secretary of the coordination committee, said the USTC authorities were not implementing the service rules for staff, pay scales and other job facilities, even after 25 years of the university’s inception. “There is no president-nominated Vice-Chancellor, Pro-VC or Treasurer who can run the university smoothly”, Kamal said.
Speakers said at the conference, the authority is not given the salaries of June 2014 and salaries of month of Ramadan 2014+Eid bonus to almost 8 hundred teachers, doctors, officers and employees.
Council Secretary, Anwarul Islam Bappi; Director General of USTC BBMH, Brig Gen (Retd.) Shawkat Ali; Professor Dr. Mokaddes Aktar Begum; Dr. Badiul Alam; Professor Mahmudul Haque Chowdhury; Associate Professor Dr. ABM Mohammad Ali; Professor Dr. Didarul Alam; Professor Syed Mohammad Shahidullah; Professor Dr. Fayez Ahmed Khan; Professor Dr. MA Rouf; Professor Dr. Prakash Kumar Chowdhury; Dr. Kishore Majumder spokes while the meeting presided over by the convener of USTC Coordination Committee, Professor Dr. AHM Ishak Chowdhury.
