Prottoy scheme: No meeting between Quader, demonstrating teachers today

Activities at public universities have almost come to a halt due to all-out work abstention of teachers, officials and workers to press home their demand against the government notification on the “prottoy scheme” of the universal pension scheme.

In this context, the meeting, which was set to be held between the leaders of the demonstrating teachers and governing Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader today, Thursday, has been postponed due to “state affairs of the minister”.

The teachers have been waging the movement for four days. This has halted the academic activities at 35 public universities.

This led the ruling party leader, Obaidul Quader, to send a message through a former leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League to Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan, president of the Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) and secretary general to Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Association (FBUTA), an umbrella body of the organisations of demonstrating teachers, requesting their leaders to hold a meeting.

The FBUTA leaders attended a discussion among themselves Wednesday night over the meeting with the government.

But the meeting was cancelled Thursday morning.

Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan told Prothom Alo around 10:30 am, “We were scheduled to hold a meeting with road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader and education minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury today. But the meeting has been cancelled due to Obaidul Quader’s business with state affairs.”

He further said that AL office secretary Biplob Barua phoned them to inform them of the matter.

“Obaidul Quader, however, will hold the meeting with us very soon,” he stated.