Metrorail may resume by Sunday as agitating employees join duty

Metrorail service may resume by Sunday as the agitating employees of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) have returned to work.

Today(20 August), employees in grades 10 to 20 returned to work after the DMTCL board accepted their demand for a salary hike. The board also formed a committee to address their demand for the payment of arrears.

Mohammad Abdur Rouf, the Company Secretary of DMTCL, told TBS that the board meeting was held yesterday from 5:15 PM to 11:00 PM. All the demands of the agitators were thoroughly discussed. Their main demand for a salary hike was accepted, and to address another demand regarding the payment of arrears on the hiked salary, a committee was formed to find a way to implement the payments.

He mentioned that the metro rail service will be resumed soon but could not confirm the exact date.

A concerned official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that as the employees who had been on strike since August 6th have returned to work, a test run of the metro rail will be conducted immediately. If no issues arise, DMTCL plans to resume metro rail service on Saturday. If for any reason it is not possible on Saturday, the service will be resumed on Sunday.

When contacted for confirmation, DMTCL Managing Director Siddique was unavailable as he was in a meeting.