Advocate Atiqur Rahman, central president of the Bangladesh Sramik Kalyan Federation, on Wednesday urged swift implementation of a six-point charter of demands to secure railway workers’ rights and benefits.
He was speaking as chief guest at a railway workers’ rally at the CRB area in Chattogram, marking the 52nd founding anniversary of the Bangladesh Railway Employees League (BREL).
Railway workers make a vital contribution to the country’s communications and economic progress, he said, yet their problems and legitimate demands have long been ignored. The authorities, he said, must ensure workplace safety, housing and rations, and take effective steps to improve passenger services. He also urged workers to pursue their demands in a united and orderly manner.
The rally was chaired by Md Monirul Islam Mazumder, BREL’s central general secretary and Chattogram regional president. Special guests included Muhammad Nazrul Islam, a member of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s central working committee and its Chattogram metropolitan ameer, and Shamsuzzaman Helali, Jamaat’s nominee for Chattogram City Corporation mayor.
The workers’ six demands are:
- Reducing delays on the Upakul Express intercity train to improve passenger service.
- Starting the Subarnachar Express without delay.
- Extending the rail line from Noakhali station to Chairman Ghat.
- Reinstating the Noakhali Express.
- Replacing the existing Tk 50 ration allowance with quality rations priced at current market rates.
- Evicting illegal occupants of railway quarters, modernising staff housing and fixing house rents by floor area.
Mazumder said the demands concerned both workers’ rights and the quality of passenger service, and called on railway authorities to act on them effectively.
