Barapukuria officials freed as company cancels new manpower structure

Officials of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd come out of the office building in a happy mood on Wednesday night as the miners and workers withdrew their agitation programme that included confining the officials since Tuesday morning. PHOTO: STAR

Miners and workers of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company (BCMCL) Ltd on Wednesday night set free its 65 officials, 36 hours after their confinement as the company cancelled its recent amendment move to the manpower structure.
According to the miners, the BCMCL authorities on January 23 this year amended its manpower structure, reducing the existing manpower strength from 2,674 to 738. The structure was formulated in 2000.  
As the miners and workers came to know of the move on April 15, they launched an agitation on Sunday and gave the BCMCL authorities a 48-hour ultimatum to cancel the new structure. But the ultimatum went in vain.
 On Tuesday morning, the workers confined the 65 officials to the administrative building to realise their demand.
On hearing the news, Md Aminuzzaman, managing director of the coal mining company in the district's Parbatipur upazila, rushed to the spot on Wednesday noon from Dhaka to find a solution to the problem.
 The managing director held a meeting with the confined officials at night.
 After the meeting, Aminuzzaman announced that the newly amended manpower structure had been postponed on instructions from the government's highest policy-making body.
 After the announcement, the workers released the confined officials.