Government employees on Saturday staged a human chain at the National Press Club demanding promotions of rank and a raise in pay to grade 10.
The human chain was organized by the Bangladesh Administrative Officer Implementation Unity Council.
Secretary General of the organization Abu Nasir Khan said despite the fact that the titles and pay scales of chief assistants, senior assistants, and assistants in various government departments inside and outside of the Bangladesh Secretariat are the same, the then government issued a notification in 1995, to only promote those involved with the secretariat, and upgrade their salaries to grade 10.
As a result, there is discrimination in titles and salaries in government offices, he added.
He added that following this, the posts mentioned in Bangladesh Public Service Commission, University Grants Commission (UGC), Bangladesh Supreme Court, Ganabhaban, and Bangabhaban have also been upgraded, but the posts mentioned in other departments have remained the same till now.
The designation and pay grade of employees working in various offices and the High Court including the Secretariat have been elevated to the same status.
“We want an end to this discrimination immediately,” he added.
The Ministry of Public Administration is preparing a meeting on July 28 to solve this problem.
A notification issued by the organization mentioned that several high-level committees of the government have given consent in this regard.
The employees also said their respective departments have also complained that due to the lack of initiative of the Finance Department and the Ministry of Public Administration, they are being deprived.
They claimed the government has promoted the posts of senior assistants, head assistants on the same scale, and lower scale employees such as primary school teachers, block supervisors, diploma engineers, police SI, nurses, auditors, and food inspectors to the second-class rank.
However, other offices, directorates, departments, autonomous bodies, and corporations, have been deprived for 27 years due to not being promoted to equivalent posts, it added.
The next generation is losing interest in higher education as people with relatively fewer qualifications are occupying higher positions in government sectors, Nasir said.
At this time, he sought the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resolve the issue.
The organization's President KM Bahadurman along with various government offices, directorates, departments, divisions, district and upazila level chief assistants, senior assistants, and employees of equivalent posts were present during the human chain.
