Cuet salaries, festival allowances cleared after protest

Teachers, officers and employees of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) received their September salaries and festival allowances today (7 October) after staging a sit-in outside the Sonali Bank branch on the campus.

The payments began in phases around 12:30pm, shortly after the protesters started the sit-in at 11am, according to Cuet Staff Association President Jamal Uddin.

“We staged the sit-in in front of the bank from 11am. Following our demand, salaries and allowances were paid from around 12:30pm according to the previous pay-fixation rules,” he told The Business Standard.

The Sonali Bank branch had withheld the payments following a written instruction from Cuet Vice-Chancellor Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam on Tuesday (6 October).

In a letter to the bank manager, the vice-chancellor instructed the branch not to disburse the September salaries and allowances.

Following the instruction, the bank stopped the payments, university officials said.

The withheld payments affected 1,087 teachers, officers and employees, including 367 teachers, 208 officers and 512 employees.

Dispute linked to ongoing movement

CUET has been witnessing a movement for 16 days demanding the reinstatement of former Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem.

On the 15th day of the movement, teachers, officers and employees joined students in programmes outside the campus and in the city.

The protesters alleged that the decision to withhold their salaries and allowances was linked to their support for the ongoing movement.

They also said the delay had created additional financial difficulties for Hindu teachers and employees ahead of Durga Puja.

The staff later withdrew their sit-in from outside the Sonali Bank branch after the payments began.