BAU students submit Memorandum to chief adviser with six-point demand

Students of the Faculty of Agriculture at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) have submitted a memorandum to the Chief Adviser, demanding an end to discrimination against agriculturists and the fulfillment of six specific demands.

 

On Tuesday (May 6), the students held a protest rally on campus at around 10:15 AM. Following the rally, they blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh railway line near the university's Jabbar Mor area. As a result, the Dewanganj-bound Teesta Express was halted at Fatemanagar, while the Dhaka-bound Haor Express was stopped at Mymensingh station.

 

The blockade lasted for nearly two hours and was lifted around 12:30 PM after intervention from the university’s Proctor Professor Dr. Md. Abdul Alim and Mymensingh Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Ariful Islam Prince, allowing train services to resume.

 

Later, at 2:15 PM, the students submitted the memorandum to the BAU Vice-Chancellor and at 4:00 PM, through the Mymensingh Deputy Commissioner, to the Chief Adviser.

 

Ifran Yusuf Shihab, a student of the Faculty of Agriculture, stated: “Our intellect builds the nation, and we take pride in our merit. To get into a public university, one has to go through many filters — SSC, HSC, and then the competitive admission test. In the 2023–24 session, about 24 candidates competed for each seat in agriculture. So how can diploma holders make unjustified demands that question the credibility of the agricultural sector?”

 

UNO Md. Ariful Islam Prince said to the students, “The university and the district administration stand by your logical demands. However, we need to discuss the method of protest. We must ensure that people not involved in this movement — especially those from low-income backgrounds or those with urgent travel needs — are not subjected to public suffering.”

 

Proctor Professor Dr. Md. Abdul Alim later added, “I request the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that today's message reaches the right place. Comparing university graduates with diploma holders is completely unacceptable. We must ensure no instability is created in this regard.”

 

The six-point demands of the students are:

 

1. The 10th-grade posts (Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer/Sub-Assistant Scientific Officer/equivalent) at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), and other research institutions must be open to agriculture graduates.

 

2. Regular review and promotion should be ensured in the 9th and other grades at DAE and other agriculture-related institutions.

 

3. No one should be promoted to the 9th grade without passing the recruitment test (abolishing the BADC quota). In this regard, 10th-grade posts should have a separate hierarchy outside the gazetted structure.

 

4. No specialized agricultural university should be established exclusively for diploma holders in agriculture.

 

5. Only those with a bachelor's degree in agriculture/agriculture-related subjects should be allowed to use the title "Krishibid" (Agriculturist), and an official government order must be issued in this regard.

 

6. Agricultural diploma or technical education must remain under the jurisdiction of agriculture-related institutions (like DAE).