Call for quota reform rings louder

As a continuation of their ongoing movement demanding reformation of the existing quota system, government job seekers and students staged demonstrations at different universities and colleges across the country yesterday.

Under the banner of "Bangladesh Shadharan Chhatra Odhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad", the protesters started their pre-scheduled demonstrations around 11:00am to press home their five-point demand, including reducing the allocation of quota privileges to 10 percent from the current 56 percent.

Their other demands include recruiting job seekers to vacant posts on the basis of merit if suitable candidates are not found from those who are eligible to get jobs under the quota system, preventing special recruitment tests for candidates falling under the quotas, and ensuring unified age for all job seekers.

For realising their demands, thousands of students from different public universities and colleges staged sit-ins and held rallies in their respective institutions. In the capital, over 2,000 job seekers and students demonstrated at the Shahbgah intersection around 11:00 am.

They started their programme with observing a one-minute silence condemning Saturday's attack on Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal on Shahjalal University of Science and Technology campus.

They took position in front of the national museum holding placards and chanting slogans against the discrimination caused by the “disproportionate” quota system.

Talking to The Daily Star, coordinator of the movement Hasan Al Mamun said, “We do not want scrapping. Rather, reformation of the existing quota system.”

He urged the prime minister to take initiatives to reform the quota system as soon as possible.

After demonstrating there for an hour, they moved to the Raju Bhashkarjo (Raju Memorial Sculpture) on Dhaka University campus, and ended their programme around 12:30pm.

Earlier, on February 17, students demonstrated at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture with the same demands. Government job seekers and students had also demonstrated across the country on February 25.  

Job seekers are blaming the quota system for the acute unemployment problem in the country as qualified aspirants are not getting their desired jobs while the quota holders are switching their jobs frequently.

The quota system was introduced through an executive order in 1972 and was amended several times. From 1972 to 1976, 20 percent was recruited on the basis of merit. Merit-based recruitment was increased to 40 percent in 1976. It was continued until 1985 when the percentage of merit-based recruitment was raised to 45 percent.

But in 2012, one percent quota was introduced for the physically challenged, reducing merit-based recruitment to 44 percent.

Currently, only 44 percent job seekers are recruited on the basis of merit. The remaining 56 percent candidates are recruited on the basis of the privileges under various quotas.

Meanwhile, at Jahangirnagar University (JU), more than 500 students demonstrated in front of the university's central Shaheed Minar.

Two teachers of the university -- Prof Naseem Akhtar Hussain of government and politics and Sheikh Adnan Fahad of journalism and media studies departments -- expressed solidarity with the students.

Speaking at the programme, Prof Naseem Akhtar said neglecting meritorious students in the government job should not be continued for long.

In the current scenario, brilliant students are being deprived and the country may face a great loss in future, she added.

At Rajshahi University (RU), more than a thousand students took part in the demonstration on the campus with the same demand.

They held a human chain in Paris Road area at 11:00 am and later brought out a silent procession.

Fazle Rabby, a student of social works department, who joined the programme, said the existing quota system is totally inappropriate. 

It has left the nation with two grave consequences -- competent candidates being driven to other jobs and bureaucracy being devoid of merit in the long run.

Moreover, terming the existing quota system unjust and demanding its reformation, students and government job seekers staged demonstrations at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Comilla University, Bangladesh Agricultural University in Mymensingh, Islamic University in Kushtia, Carmichael College in Rangpur, and Govt Ananda Mohan College in Mymensingh, according to the Facebook group of the platform.

The platform declared that they would stage demonstrations at educational institutions across the country on March 14 to press home their demand.