Bangladeshi protesters demand end to civil service job quotas
The Hindu
Bangladeshi students protest for merit-based civil service jobs, demanding an end to discriminatory quotas in government employment.
Thousands of Bangladeshi university students threw roadblocks across key highways on July 7, demanding the end of "discriminatory" quotas for coveted government jobs, including reserving posts for children of liberation heroes.
Students in almost all major universities took part, demanding a merit-based system for well-paid and massively over-subscribed civil service jobs.
"It's a do-or-die situation for us," protest coordinator Nahidul Islam told AFP, during marches at Dhaka University.
"Quotas are a discriminatory system," the 26-year-old added. "The system has to be reformed".
The current system reserves more than half of posts, totalling hundreds of thousands of government jobs.
That includes 30 percent reserved for children of those who fought to win Bangladeshi independence in 1971, 10% for women, and 10% set aside for specific districts.
Students said only those quotas supporting ethnic minorities and disabled people - 6% of jobs - should remain.
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