Work stoppage by Palli Bidyut from Tuesday

NN Online :
Officers and employees of the Palli Bidyut Samity have announced a nationwide work stoppage starting Tuesday, May 27.
However, they have assured that electricity services will remain uninterrupted during the protest.

Engineer Tajul Islam, President of the Palli Bidyut Association, made the announcement during a press conference held on Monday, May 26 — the sixth day of their ongoing sit-in protest at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.

Since May 21, around 45,000 employees from 80 Palli Bidyut Samities across the country have been staging an indefinite sit-in. They are demanding the implementation of a unified service policy, regularization of contract workers, an end to workplace harassment, and the withdrawal of false cases filed against employees.

Protesters allege that the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB) continues to mislead the government to deflect attention from these legitimate demands. The movement, they insist, is a voluntary and self-driven call for reform, aiming to establish a fair, modern, and non-discriminatory electricity distribution system.

Tajul Islam stated that after four days of peaceful demonstration without any government response, the association was compelled to initiate a non-cooperation movement against REB. Despite continuing their duties to ensure uninterrupted electricity, no visible government action has been taken to address their concerns.

Among their seven demands are the removal of the REB Chairman, integration or restructuring of REB and Palli Bidyut Samity under a unified service rule, reinstatement of terminated employees, and the formation of an interim board to manage operations until full reforms are implemented.