C T Online Desk: The students of Comilla University blocked the Dhaka-Chittagong highway after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the High Court’s verdict that declared the decision to cancel the quota system, including the first and second-class freedom fighter quota in government jobs, illegal.
They blocked the highway in the Kotbari area after 1pm on Thursday, leading to traffic congestion that stretched for several kilometres.
Several students said they are protesting to reinstate the 2018 circular.
Comilla Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Kamran Hossain said efforts were on to move the protesting students from the road. “A sufficient number of law enforcers have been deployed.”
Earlier in the day, the appellate bench led by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan upheld the chamber court’s decision on the freedom fighter quota.
Consequently, the High Court’s verdict remains in effect.
On June 5, the High Court declared illegal the circular that cancelled the quotas, including those for freedom fighters, in first and second-class government jobs.
As a result, the 30% quota for freedom fighters in government jobs (grades 9 to 13) will remain in place.
On October 4, 2018, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a circular to implement the cabinet’s decision to abolish the existing quota system for direct recruitment to first and second-class posts in government jobs.
The Ministry of Public Administration issued the circular a day after the decision of the Cabinet to cancel the quota.
The government decided to remove the 45% quota for recruitment in government jobs from ninth to thirteenth grade, opting for merit-based recruitment after a prolonged student movement demanding quota reform. The quota review committee’s recommendations led to this decision, approved during a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on October 3, 2018.
