The officers of Islamic University observed work abstention for the second consecutive day on Monday on the university campus in Kushtia to press home their 16-point charter of demands, including increase in retirement age and make policy to enroll their children under ward quota.
About a hundred officers under Islamic University Officers’ Association observed the abstention programme from 9:00am to 4:00pm, halting the administrative activities.
Their 16-point charter of demands include extending the retirement age from 60 to 62 years and taking an immediate initiative to enroll students of teachers, officials and staff of the university under ward quota.
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The students of the university suffered a lot due to the work abstention. They could not receive their certificates and other necessary documents from the university’s controller of examinations office for this.
Many students said that they were the worst sufferers due to the work abstention of the officers’ association. They suffered one after another but no remedy was found to resolve the issues, they said.
Tanjila Akter, a former student of the university, said that she had been waiting for the last two days to take her certificates and other documents from the controller of examinations office of the university. She, at a point, lost her hope to receive the certificates due to the indefinite work abstention programme called by the university’s officers’ association, she added.
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On Saturday, the officials of the university arranged a meeting at IU’s Birshreshtha Hamidur Rahman auditorium on the same ground. Later, they announced an indefinite work abstention programme on the campus.
They observed the work abstention as part of the announcement, Islamic University Officers’ Association general secretary Walid Hasan Mukut said.
The association president ATM Emdadul Alam told UNB that the university administration assured them of looking into the demands one after another but they did not take any effective measures regarding the issues.
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‘We will continue our demonstration on the campus until our demands are met,’ he added.
IU vice-chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam said that they were trying to resolve the issues after discussing the matter with the officials soon.
Meanwhile, the 261st syndicate meeting was on the campus in Kushtia on Sunday night without IU acting registrar HM Ali Hasan, who was a member secretary of the syndicate, as the officers confined him at his office.