Staff Correspondent: A RLP was held at Palli Bhaban premises in Kawran Bazar of the capital on Sunday demanding inclusion of the manpower of the rural livelihood program/project of the Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) in the revenue sector. Later, the agitating officers and employees submitted a memorandum to BRDB Director General (Additional Secretary) Sardar Keramat Ali. In the memorandum, they demanded inclusion of their jobs in the revenue sector within the next 15 working days.

The agitators said that the Rural Livelihood Program started its activities in 82 upazilas in 1993 under the name RPCP. Its main goal was to eradicate poverty among the rural population through microcredit, savings and training. In 1998, the project was named Rural Livelihood Project after 70 more upazilas were added.  In 2012, the project was expanded again to include 38 upazilas and reorganized as RLP-2. The revised DPP approved at that time clearly instructed all the manpower to be transferred to the revenue sector at the end of the project period. Officials alleged that after the project period ended in 2017, the BRDB authorities continued to continue the program as a program, avoiding the issue of including the PJIP manpower in the revenue sector. Later, when the Rural Livelihood Project (Phase III) was started in 2021 by including 30 more upazilas, the opportunity of more than 2,000 officials and employees to go to the revenue sector became even more uncertain.  They allege that the project was started during the BNP government and they were repeatedly deprived during the previous government`s tenure for political reasons. Despite working for poverty alleviation at the field level for a long time, they have been severely affected financially due to the inhuman and heinous income of the project and the system of liability. However, they were appointed on the national salary scale in 1993, but in 1998 it was canceled and a lump sum salary was introduced. In 2012, without any logical reason, the authorities allied with the fascist government canceled the 12th grade found in the appointment letters of the field organizers and downgraded them to the 14th grade. Due to these reasons, many officials and employees have been living an inhuman life with their families for years through poverty and hardship. Many have died of illness due to lack of treatment. Many have also committed suicide in extreme depression.  Some have reached retirement age, while others are not old enough to get government jobs anywhere else. They claim that they were forced to approach the court against fascism and were ordered to be included in the revenue sector by the High Court, but the BRDB authorities are not implementing it. In this situation, they have taken to the field and said that if their demands are not met, they will announce a larger program, including a sit-in in front of the secretariat. When the newly appointed Secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Department of the Ministry of Local Government came to BRDB that day, the protesters also handed over a copy of the memorandum to him. Along with officials and employees of 220 upazilas of Pojip, the BRDB Karmakhari Union (B-1925), President of the Nationalist Workers` Party Central Committee A.K.M. Monirul Haque, General Secretary Md. Abdul Mannan Sheikh and other central leaders of the organization were present at the rally.