Online Desk  :  The officials and employees of Bangladesh Secretariat have announced a demonstration inside the Secretariat next Wednesday to press a nine-point demand, including pay scale adjustments, removal of inequalities and improved benefits. The decision was announced on Thursday during a rally organized by the Secretariat Officials and Employees Joint Council led by its president Md Badiul Kabir, reports UNB. Announcing a general assembly next Wednesday, Kabir said, “We are protesting to achieve our demands. We urge to implement our demands without delay.”

The demands include the formation of a National Pay Commission, reducing the number of pay grades from 20 to 10, implementing a 50 percent dearness allowance before rolling out the full Pay Commission, upgrading the 20th-grade positions (office assistants) to the 17th grade and 10th grade to 9th grade. Their other demands are: restoring the time-scale and selection grade system for all grades, introducing a 100 percent pension gratuity scheme, exempting annual incomes up to Tk 5 lakh from tax, increasing the retirement age from 59 to 62 and offering Secretariat employees allowances similar to those at the President’s office and rationing facilities akin to the Defense Ministry.

The rally also demanded the removal of a joint secretary accused of delays and misconduct in addressing their grievances. The council called for the cancellation of discriminatory orders imposed during the previous regime and the implementation of seniority-based promotions. The event was attended by the council’s secretary general Md Nizam Uddin Ahmed and presided over by Md Badiul Kabir.