Metro rail commuters faced immense suffering on Sunday as protesters not only occupied the street in front of the National Press Club but also moved into the concourse plaza of the Secretariat metro station to press home their six-point demands.
The central committee of the Bangladesh Health Assistant Association organized the sit-in protest, which began in the morning and drew participation from over a thousand demonstrators.
During the protest, many protesters were seen chatting under fans, sitting on the stairs, or standing inside the station area, making it difficult for passengers to enter or exit the metro station normally.
The gate adjacent to the Press Club was eventually shut down, forcing passengers to use the opposite gate. Frustrated commuters expressed their anger over the inconvenience caused.
One commuter, Mehedi Hasan, said: “If they want to protest, let them do it down on the street. Why are they upstairs too? Is this some kind of joke? They’re everywhere. I needed to exit from one side but had to go all the way around because of them.”
When asked, a protester explained: “There wasn’t enough space on the street, so we moved upstairs.”
Akhil Uddin, chief coordinator of the association, acknowledged the issue and said: “Yes, we’re aware of this. We’ve noticed it and instructed our volunteers to bring everyone back down.”
A metro station controller on duty at the Secretariat station, requesting anonymity, said: “The protesters came up from the street and crowded the concourse plaza. Some even started eating there. Later, we had to remove them and keep the gate on the Press Club side closed due to security concerns.”
The demands include:
- Amendment of the recruitment rules to require a bachelor’s degree or equivalent and placement in grade 14.
- Granting grade 11 and technical status to in-service diploma holders.
- Ensuring promotion to higher grades in a sequential manner.
- Integration of health assistants, assistant health inspectors, and health inspectors—despite being recruited under the previous rules—into the graduate-level pay scale, regardless of training.
- Before improving or revising the pay scale, any time scales (1/2/3) or higher scales (1/2) that have been received or are due must be added to the revised pay scale.
- Recognition of previously completed in-service diploma (SIT) courses as equivalent to a full diploma.
