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The Bangladesh Secretariat Officers and Employees Unity Council has called for a large-scale gathering at the Secretariat’s Badamtala if the government refuses to revoke the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance.
The announcement was made at a rally outside the Ministry of Public Administration and the Cabinet Division on Monday, bdnews24.com reports.
Mujahidul Islam Selim, the Council’s secretary general, urged all Secretariat staff to start department-based processions, which will come together in a mass rally at 11am on Tuesday.
Addressing the interim government’s law adviser, Selim said: “The adviser claimed he was abroad when the law was passed, implying that had he been present, the ordinance would never have been approved.”
He questioned the intentions behind the ordinance, explaining that since the fall of the Awami League government, there haven’t been any cases of irregularities in the Secretariat.
“We are not thugs. We are not the kind to take to the streets and shout slogans. Why are you provoking us?” he asked.
The Council’s Co-chairman Badiul Kabir said that the interim government is provoking the Secretariat staff by enacting this ordinance. He called for its immediate revocation.
Nurul Islam, another co-chair, added: “Various cadre services have already started to protest. The government is toying with us, as if they’re playing a game of snakes and ladders.”
He elaborated, “We demanded an inflation allowance, change of positions, and a secretariat-specific allowance. Now they’ve quietly introduced this draconian ordinance. At this moment, they do not have the authority to enact an ordinance like this. We strongly condemn those involved in this matter.”
He criticised what the government termed a “special allowance,” calling it a “deceptive allowance”.