JnU correspondent

The Jagannath University Teachers' Association (JnUTA) has demanded the withdrawal of the recently issued discriminatory pension notification. President of Jagannath University Teachers Association, Professor Dr. Md. Zakir Hossain, and General Secretary, Dr. Sheikh Mashrick Hasan, demanded this in a joint statement on Thursday.

In the statement, they stated that the notification dated March 13, 2024 (SRO No. 47-Act/2024) issued by the Ministry of Finance of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh has come to the attention of the Jagannath University Teachers' Association. The notification issued is against the interests of teachers, officers, and employees working in public universities as autonomous institutions. It has been informed that the new entrants on or after July 1, 2024, will be covered under the universal pension system. In the case of public universities, the notification is discriminatory as well as contrary to the spirit of the Constitution in terms of rights.

The statement also said that the notification is completely against the educational philosophy of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. If the current pension system in public universities is changed and brought under the universal pension system, the teachers and researchers of the university will be greatly humiliated and harmed. It is an attempt to disrupt Bangabandhu's daughter, Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's, plan to create a smart Bangladesh.

Apart from this, Jagannath University Teachers' Association hopes that such steps of depriving university teachers of opportunities will discourage highly talented people from entering the teaching profession, which will lead to the decline of higher education as a whole.

If the universal pension is introduced, public university teachers will be deprived of the benefits of the existing system, which has created extreme frustration and dissatisfaction among them. The Jagannath University Teachers' Association is seeking the immediate intervention of Hon'ble Prime Minister, People's Leader Sheikh Hasina, for the immediate withdrawal of such discrimination, frustration, and dissatisfaction-causing notification.

Mashrick Hasan, General Secretary of the JNU Teachers' Association, commented that if this notification is implemented, talented students will not come to the teaching profession of the university. He said, “This notification is contradictory and discriminatory to others. It is also against Bangabandhu's educational philosophy. This notification must be cancelled.”