Home economics students block intersection

People living in the areas surrounding Dhaka University and in old town in the capital experienced severe traffic congestion as students of Home Economics College blocked New Market intersection for six hours from Tuesday morning, demanding elevation of their college as a full-fledged institute under Dhaka University. Several hundred students of the college blocked the intersection around 11:30am, a major intersection in the city, also demanding autonomy of the college, transport and library facility, quality education, solution to accommodation problem, appointing adequate teachers and sufficient classrooms. As the intersection was blocked, vehicles to and from old town and other parts of Dhaka came to a standstill and caused severe gridlock around the area leaving the commuters to endure untold sufferings. Huge traffic gridlock was caused until night, especially at key points including Dhanmondi, New Market, Azimpur, Mohammadpur, Shahbagh and their adjacent areas. Due to the tailback on the major roads, vehicles used several lanes and by-lanes to go to their destinations and, as a result, the narrow inner roads also witnessed severe gridlock. One of the organisers, Ishrat Jahan of child development and social relationship department of the college, said they were deceived as their college was a college under DU but they do not get any facility of DU at their college. The protesters withdrew their blockade about 6:00pm when they advanced towards Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics where the education minister Nurul Islam Nahid went to attend a programme. A representative team of students, after completing the programme, met the education minister at BANBEIS and informed him about their problems. The minister assured the students to solve their problems soon, said a member of the students’ representative team. After the meeting, the education minister said that a committee, comprising of students, home economics principal and the ministry’s secretary, would work to sort out the problems of the students and to take measure afterwards. Israt, who attended the meeting with the minister, said they were convinced with the minister’s assurance and would not go for further protest.

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