Security tightened at Palli Bidyut offices across the country

Security has been ramped up at all Palli Bidyut offices and installations across Bangladesh as tensions rise among employees demanding better service terms and permanent employment status.

This increased security comes as officials and employees from the Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) are set to meet with the chairman of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB) and the head of a Power Division committee to discuss their demands. The meetings are seen as a crucial step before any further action is taken by the employees.

Around 40,000 employees and officers from 80 PBSs across the country have been vocal about their grievances, particularly since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Their primary concerns focus on ending discrimination in service terms and securing permanent employment. In response to these unresolved issues, they have threatened mass leave and even resignations if their demands are not met, according to a UNB report.

However, these actions have raised alarms within the interim government, which suspects that such moves could be part of a larger strategy to destabilise the administration. The concern is heightened by the fact that many PBS employees were appointed during the previous Awami League government, raising fears of politically motivated unrest.

According to an intelligence report, officials and staff from PBS are planning to go on mass leave starting Wednesday if their two-point demands—uniform service rules including the merger of PBS and REB, and the regularisation of all irregular or contractual employees—are not met by Tuesday (today).