Officers and employees of Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) called off their planned mass leave and mass resignation program after discussion with the chairman of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB) and Power Division on Tuesday. Report UNB
In a joint statement, three coordinators of the PBS Anti-Discrimination Movement--Abdul Hakim, Asaduzzaman Bhuiyan and Ranjan Kumar Das--said that they have called off the program after getting assurance from the REB and Power Division that they will consider their demands.
“The mass resignation and mass leave program have been withdrawn against the backdrop of the requests from the mass people,” said the statement.
Approximately 40,000 employees and officers from 80 PBSs nationwide have been vocal about their demands, particularly following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
Their primary concerns include ending discrimination in service terms and securing permanent employment status. In response, they threatened mass leave and resignations if their demands were not met.
However, these plans raised suspicions within the interim government that such movements could be part of a broader strategy to destabilize the administration. This concern stems from the fact that many PBS employees were politically appointed during the previous Awami League government.
In an attempt to address the rising tensions, the Power Division established a nine-member committee headed by Additional Secretary Syed Masum Ahmed Chowdhury. The committee includes four representatives from PBS employees, three from the REB, and two from the Power Division.
Representatives of the Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) officials and employees sat in a meeting with the newly appointed chairman of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB) Major General SM Zia-ul-Azim and the head of a Power Division committee at Bidyut Bhaban to address their demands .
Additional Secretary and the head of the Power Division’s committee, Syed Masum Ahmed Chowdhury, said the committee decided to sit in the next meeting on September 4 where the PBS Anti-Discrimination Committee will place a position paper on their demands.
The current unrest follows a protest on 8 August, when PBS officers and employees besieged the REB headquarters in Dhaka's Nikunja area. The demonstrators demanded the implementation of uniform employment rules and the regularization of irregular employees.
The siege was lifted after the REB authorities, with army mediation, agreed to suspend any staff transfers until the Power Division's report was received.
The PBSs, rural electricity cooperatives, operate under the administrative control of the REB and play a crucial role in the country's electrification efforts.
The ongoing grievances center around perceived discrimination in employment practices, with workers alleging that despite holding the same qualifications and performing the same tasks, they are treated unfairly compared to their REB counterparts.
