Siddiqur joins govt pharmaceutical company as telephone operator

Titumir College student Siddiqur Rahman, who lost his eyesight in police action at Dhaka’s Shahbagh area on July 20, today joined Essential Drugs Company Limited as a telephone operator.

His friends, elder brother, and teacher accompanied him when he was signing the joining letter at the office around 9:30am, said Siddiqur’s classmate Sheikh Farid.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammed Nasim has arranged the job for Siddiqur, 23, and he got the appointment letter on September 13.

According to the appointment letter, he has been appointed temporarily for a year.

Siddiqur's monthly salary would be Tk 13,000 along with other allowances.  If the job is made permanent after a year, the monthly salary would be Tk 23,000.

Siddiqur cannot see with his right eye. He perceived little light after the bandage of his left eye was removed on August 5 after a surgery at Sankara Nethralaya in India's Chennai, according to doctors.

He was sent to India for eye treatment on July 27 as per the directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the health ministry arranged his treatment.

Siddiqur, a third-year student of political science, was injured when a policeman lobbed a teargas canister directly at him during a demonstration of the students of seven Dhaka University-affiliated colleges at Shahbagh on July 20.