Four employees working under a project of the Department of Women Affairs (DoWA) have been waiting for 27 years to be regularised in government's services.
They have also been suffering from prolonged salary deprivation. Despite High Court directives, authorities concerned have yet to take effective measures in this connection.
The affected individuals are Programmer Md Fazle Rab, Assistant Programmer Md Abdul Quddus, Affice Assistant Syed Aktar Hossain and Cleaner Hena Begum. They were appointed under the project 'Vocational Training for Women for Population Control' in 1992.
In the meantime, over 450 employees were transferred to the revenue through regulartisation of their services from the project in June 1999. But these four employees were excluded.
Relying on repeated assurances from higher authorities, they continued working in their respective positions for decades. But their service positions remained unchanged. From 2009 to 2014, they received partial salaries under the 2005 Pay Scale.
Between 2015 and October 2019, they were paid partially under the 2009 Pay Scale. After that, their salaries were suspended.
Following appeals to higher authorities and legal action, they received partial payments again. But since October 2022, even their payments have been discontinued. Now, three of them owe salaries of more than 42 months. One of them, Fazle Rab, has already retired without receiving full benefits in 2019.
They submitted another application in August 2024 seeking unpaid salaries and regularization of their jobs. However, no visible progress has been made. The affected families are reportedly living in severe hardship.
Assistant Programmer Abdul Quddus told The Daily Observer while all their colleagues have been regularised, they were unfairly excluded.
The y approached different authorities including the Director General of the department concerned and advisors of interim government. But their problem remains unresolved. Even after a change in government, their renewed applications have not yielded any result.
Expressing frustration over that issue Office Assistant Syed Aktar Hossain said they seek justice and request that these four excluded employees be transferred to the revenue so they could at least live with dignity in their rest of lifetime.
In 2021, the High Court has given order in favour of the employees, recommending regularising or transferring to the revenue and ordering payment of their dues within 30 days.
However, the case is currently pending in the Appellate Division, and the court's directive has yet to be fully implemented.
Meanwhile, the affected employees and their families continue to struggle without salaries, living under inhumane conditions.
