Diploma Engineers Oppose Open Recruitment for Grade-10 Posts

Diploma engineers in Bangladesh have opposed any move to open government Grade-10 sub-assistant engineer posts to graduates with bachelor’s degrees in engineering. They argue that allowing BSc engineers to compete for these positions would reduce employment and promotion opportunities for diploma engineers and could create instability in the engineering sector.

The demand was raised by leaders of the Forum of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh (FDEB) at a human chain held outside the National Press Club in Dhaka at 11am on Saturday, October 17. The leaders called for recruitment to Grade-10 sub-assistant engineer posts and the preservation of a 33% promotion provision for diploma engineers in line with government rules.

Speakers alleged that several agencies and organisations were unilaterally amending recruitment rules, reducing the number of posts designated for diploma engineers and narrowing their promotion opportunities. They said the changes were undermining rights that diploma engineers had secured over many years.

The leaders claimed that recruitment to thousands of posts for diploma engineers had stalled at several organisations, including the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) and Northern Electricity Supply Company (NESCO). They also alleged that discriminatory recruitment rules and promotion-seniority policies were violating diploma engineers’ seniority rights. Hundreds of sub-assistant engineer appointments had reportedly been held up under the pretext of harassment-related cases, they added.

FDEB leaders called for an immediate halt to any initiative to open Grade-10 sub-assistant engineer posts to all engineering graduates. They urged the authorities to follow existing government rules and staffing structures to protect the designated posts, responsibilities and professional rights of diploma engineers.

The human chain also called for admission quotas and opportunities for diploma-in-engineering students at engineering colleges in Sylhet, Faridpur, Mymensingh and Barishal from the current academic year. Speakers said expanding access to higher education and providing pathways suited to students’ qualifications were important for the development of technical education. They urged the relevant authorities to take prompt and effective action.

Participants displayed placards bearing several slogans, including calls to repeal what they described as conspiratorial recruitment rules; complete recruitment examinations for sub-assistant engineer and junior instructor posts at BPDB and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) without delay; hold the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) election promptly; and protect promotion rights already earned through service.

Those who addressed the gathering included FDEB central president and IDEB joint convener Engineer Md Abdus Sattar Shah; vice-president Engineer Mirza Mizanur Rahman; general secretary Engineer Zainul Abedin; Dhaka South metropolitan president Engineer Abdus Samad Sardar; Dhaka North metropolitan secretary Engineer Abdul Qayyum Bacchu; Gazipur metropolitan president Engineer Faruk Ahmed; and Diploma Engineers Welfare Foundation president Engineer Absar Uddin.

//DBTech/JNNR/SMP/MIST//