Cancel decision to cut 4pc salary

Non-government teachers on Friday demanded cancelation of a government order for an additional four per cent salary cut to contribute to the welfare trust and retirement benefit board.
The non-government teachers, who are not entitled to get retirement benefit like that of government employees, currently contribute six per cent from their salaries to the Non-government Educational Institution Teachers-Employees Welfare Trust and Non-government Educational Institution Teachers-Employees Retirement Benefit Board.
They get back the money after their retirement along with some contribution from the government.
The Education Ministry on April 15 issued an order to raise the rate of contribution to 10 per cent, 4 per cent up from the previous rate, with effect from this April.
The Education Ministry order said the additional 4 per cent cut was aimed at 'speedy disbursement of their retirement benefit'.
The non-government teachers under the banner of Bangladesh Shikkhak Union at a press conference in Dhaka's Segunbagicha said the government order was 'illegal' and the order should be scrapped by May 2.
'Or else, we will lay siege to the offices of welfare trust and retirement benefit board,' said the union President Abul Bashar Howladar.
"And if it doesn't work, we'll shut down all the educational institutions," he added.
Currently, around 5 lakh teachers and employees work in about 28,000 non-government educational intuitions under monthly pay order or MPO.
Abul Bashar said it was 'quite an absurd argument' in raising the contribution for speedy disbursement of payment after retirement.
He said, "�the disbursement of the money takes even four to five years only due to bureaucratic tangle. We cannot pay additional money for smooth disbursement of the payment."
"It's a government obligation to smoothen its clerical procedures," he added.
He alleged that the non-government teachers and employees face discrimination as they get only 25 per cent of their festival allowance, Tk 1,000 for monthly house rent and Tk 500 for monthly medical bill.
"We are already facing a lot of discrimination and now the government decision will make our lives more miserable," Abul Bashar said.
He demanded the government nationalizes the education, provides full festival allowance and disbursement of their contributed retirement money within a month of their retirement.