The rail communication between Dhaka-Mymensingh remained suspended for five hours on Sunday as the students of Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU) blocked the rail route to press home their three-point demand.
The students of BAU as part of their scheduled ‘Agri blcockade’ programme, intercepted the Dhaka-bound ‘Haor Express’ train at Jabbarer Intersection around 11 am adjacent to the university. Later, the train left for Dhaka around 12:45 pm.
Meanwhile, the students again blocked the Mohonganj-bound ‘Mahua’ commuter train around 1 pm, forcing the authorities to suspend the rail services between Dhaka-Mymensingh routes.
The demands include to open the position of 10th grade (Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer/Sub-Assistant Scientific Officer/Equivalent) for agricultural scientists in DAE, BADC and all other research institutions, to ensure no scope for promotion to the 9th grade (cancellation of BADC quota) without passing the recruitment exam and the title 'Agricultural Scientist' cannot be used without a degree in agriculture or related fields and to issue a notification by the government in this regard.
The protesting students said they also condemned the ‘indecent comment’ made by the diploma holders in the social networking site Facebook against the female agriculturists.
Rubel Ahmed, a student of the Faculty of Agriculture, said, "We earn this degree after studying for five long years. Yet, if diploma holders can use titles similar to ours, then what is the significance of our degree? We want the government to accept our demands very soon."
Meanwhile, the BAU students left the rail tracks around 3:45 pm following assurance from the local administration to organize a meeting with the Adviser to the Agriculture Ministry on Monday.
