Shawdesh Desk: Municipality employees continued their agitation for the 18th consecutive day today demanding regular payment from government fund.

Several thousand demonstrators brought out a procession in front of the Jatiya Press Club of Dhaka around 10:00am, reports our correspondent.

Their procession encircled the road in front of Motsho Bhaban, around Paltan and stopped at the Secretariat gate near press club. Law enforcers obstructed them when they wanted to surround the secretariat building, Mujahidul Islam Tusher, spokesperson of Bangladesh Association of Paurasava Services (BAPS) told The Daily Star.

Later, the demonstrators lied down on the road in front of the secretariat gate along press club wearing shrouds.

They also created a platform there named “Pouro Mancha” where they were holding a rally at the time of the filing of the report around 2:00pm.

Since July 14, municipality employees have been staging an indefinite sit-in in front of the Jatiya Press Club, also demanding regular payment from state coffers.

More than 35,000 employees of 260 municipalities have not received salaries for up to seven years.

Of them, some 6,000 staffers have been without salaries for five years, around 12,000 for two years and another 5,000 for a year, show the latest statistics of BAPS.

Besides, some 964 retired employees have not received any pensions. The amount of unpaid pension is TK 120 crore.

In a report by a government committee, it recommended that the government give an allocation of Tk 346 crore, half the total arrears, for the employees as an immediate solution.

The committee was formed by the LGRD and cooperatives ministry in March last year after municipality employees launched protests demanding their arrears. The report, which includes a set of recommendations, was submitted on April 16.