Uncertainty looms over metro rail service resumption as a group of metro rail employees vowed to continue their work abstention until all six of their demands are met.
Metro rail authorities will meet the newly appointed adviser of the road transport and bridges ministry tomorrow to end the stalemate, officials said.
“We will inform him [adviser] about the prevailing situation tomorrow [Sunday] and hope the stalemate will end soon,” MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd, said.
Once employees rejoin, metro rail operations can be resumed within five days, he told The Daily Star today.
Operations of metro rail have remained suspended since July 18 after two stations were vandalised during the quota reform protests, which later turned into an uprising that toppled the Hasina-led government on August 5.
On July 19, attackers vandalised two metro stations — Mirpur-10 and Kazipara.
The government directed DMTCL on August 11 to complete necessary technical checks within seven days to resume services, without the two vandalised stations.
On the same day, the advisory council of the interim government decided to resume metro rail services on August 16.
But, DMTCL, in a press statement on August 15, said it would not be possible to resume metro rail operation as per plan as they could not start necessary technical checks due to an unavoidable situation.
Although the DMTCL did not state any reason in the statement, sources said the authorities failed to start the trial runs due to the ongoing work abstention by a group of DMTCL employees.
Around 700 of the DMTCL employees of grade 10 to 20 have been on work abstention since August 6 to press home their six-point demand, including pay hike.
Mohammad Abdur Rouf, company secretary of DMTCL, said they have already started meeting five of the six demands.
“We also assured them to meet their demands for salary hike, as we [DMTCL authority] cannot fulfil this demand unless DMTCL board takes a decision in this regard. But they [employees] were adamant about not rejoining unless an order in this regard is issued,” said Rouf.
The agitating employees said while DMTCL employees from 1st to 9th grade earn 2.3 time the national pay scale, employees from 10th to 20th grade earn only 2 times more than the pay scale. They want this “discrimination” to be removed.
MAN Siddique said they have, in writing, assured the employees that their demands will be met once a new chairman of the DMTCL board takes charge.
The interim government has cancelled the contract of the immediate past secretary of the road transport and highways division, who was the ex-officio chairman of the board.
He said the interim government has appointed a secretary for the division today, so they hope to hold a board meeting soon.
“We will inform the adviser on the issues. We hope that the problem will be solved very soon,” he added.
The Daily Star was unable to reach any of the protesting employees for a comment.
