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Teachers and employees of educational institutions under the government's monthly pay order (MPO) scheme are continuing their hunger strike and street demonstrations in Dhaka, demanding nationalisation of all private institutions and a 20 per cent housing allowance on their basic salaries.
On Saturday, the demonstrators brought out a black flag procession from the Central Shaheed Minar, where they have been staging a sit-in for seven days, and occupied the street near the Kadam Fountain in front of the High Court.
The procession began around 12:15 pm from the Shaheed Minar, bdnews24.com reports.
By 12:30 pm, the teachers had gathered in front of the Kadam Fountain, where Rashed Khan, general secretary of the Gono Odhikar Parishad, joined them.
Meanwhile, a section of the teachers at the Shaheed Minar continued their “hunger strike unto death".
The teachers and employees have been demonstrating since last week, demanding that housing allowance be set at 20 per cent of their basic salary, medical allowance be increased from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500, and festival bonuses be raised from 50 per cent to 75 per cent of the basic salary.
On Thursday, they added a new demand: the nationalisation of all private educational institutions.
Speaking to bdnews24.com before the march, protest leader Delwar Hossain Azizi said: “Our black flag procession will march to the Kadam Fountain, where a short demonstration will be held. Gono Odhikar Parishad’s General Secretary Rashed Khan will join us there. We will not return to classes until our demands are met.”
Since October 13, continuous strikes across private educational institutions have been observed in protest of "police actions". Protesters have also threatened to escalate their demonstrations.
The government had increased house rent allowance by Tk 500 on September 30, but the announcement on October 5 was rejected by teachers.
Subsequent proposals sent to the finance ministry on October 6 suggested raising the house rent allowance to Tk 2,000–3,000.
At the moment, MPO-affiliated teachers receive salaries according to the national pay scale, a Tk 500 monthly medical allowance, and a festival allowance of 50 per cent of base salary.
On Wednesday, the protesters had gathered at the Shaheed Minar before blocking the Shahbagh intersection for about three hours and then returning to the Shaheed Minar afterwards.