RUET Rises: Students Protest for Transparency in NESCO Engineer Recruitment

General students of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) staged a protest on Sunday, July 20, demanding transparency in the recruitment process for engineers at the Northern Electricity Supply Company (NESCO). The demonstration took place at 12:00 PM in the Hetemkha area of Rajshahi, where students blockaded the road in front of NESCO’s main gate and laid siege to its premises.

Participants in the protest alleged that nepotism and lack of transparency have plagued the recruitment of engineers at NESCO for an extended period, leading to the exclusion of qualified and meritorious candidates. “We will no longer tolerate such unethical practices,” said the demonstrators.

During the protest, students reiterated their allegations, stating, “NESCO has long been conducting engineer recruitment through biased and opaque procedures, depriving deserving candidates. This must not be allowed to continue.”

Abu Naeem, a student involved in the protest, stated, “We stand for fairness and transparency. We’ve been raising our three-point demand through this movement. These must be implemented promptly. The recruitment process must be protected from political and promotional interference.”

The students’ three-point demand includes: recruitment for the Assistant Engineer position (Grade 7) must be conducted solely through direct examination, with no promotional quota allowed; the diploma quota in the Sub-Assistant Engineer (Grade 8) position must be abolished, and the post should be open to all engineers; and immediate action must be taken against those currently holding Assistant Engineer positions through promotions exceeding the 33% threshold.

This was not the first protest by RUET students on the issue. On July 3, they staged a similar demonstration, blocking the Dhaka–Rajshahi highway for an hour in front of the university’s main gate to press the same demands.