Teachers and employees of private educational institutions under the MPO (Monthly Pay Order) scheme have rejected the government’s decision to increase house rent allowance by only 5 percent and launched a “hunger march” carrying empty plates. The demonstration began around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday (October 19) from the Central Shaheed Minar toward the Education Ministry, with thousands of teachers and staff participating.
However, police stopped the procession when it reached the High Court intersection via Doel Chattar. After staging a sit-in for about an hour, the protesters returned to the Shaheed Minar around 4:30 p.m. During the protest, they chanted slogans such as “We reject the 5% circular,” “We will not accept a mockery of a circular,” and “Either accept our demands or shoot us.” Over a hundred police personnel and six platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the area.
Before the march began, Delowar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO Education Nationalization Alliance, told teachers and staff, “The government’s 5% house rent increase is nothing but a mockery. We reject it outright. This is only a partial victory of our movement — we will continue until the final victory.” He also said that they met BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who expressed his party’s full support for their demands.
Notably, MPO teachers and staff are demanding a 20% house rent allowance (minimum Tk 3,000) along with two other demands. Sunday marked the eighth consecutive day of their ongoing protest.