Staff Reporter:
Protesting MPO-listed teachers on Sunday rejected the government-approved five percent house rent allowance and vowed to continue their movement day until their three-point demand is met.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the protesting teachers is holding a meeting with BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam at Gulshan residence of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia over the matter.
The teachers staging demonstration at the Central Shaheed Minar said they will march a protest proces-sion towards the Jamuna if no positive results come from the meeting yesterday (Sunday), said Alamgir Hossain, a protesting teacher came from Magura.
Earlier, on Sunday morning, the Ministry of Finance approved a five percent house rent allowance (min-imum Tk 2,000) for the teachers and employees of non-government educational institutions under the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) scheme.
The ministry’s Finance Division issued a letter to the secretaries of the Secondary and Higher Education Division and the Technical and Madrasa Education Division on Sunday, outlining six conditions for im-plementation.
The new allowance will take effect from November 1.
Currently, MPO-listed teachers and employees receive Tk 1,000 as house rent. Earlier, the Finance Divi-sion had agreed to raise it by Tk 500, but the Education Ministry withheld the order amid ongoing pro-tests.
Teachers have been demanding a 20 percent house rent allowance (minimum Tk 3,000) and are continu-ing their movement for the eighth consecutive day, now observing a hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
A few days ago, a delegation of protesting teachers met Education Adviser Prof CR Abrar, who had in-formed them of the government’s plan to increase the allowance by 5 percent, which they rejected.
