Job seekers in the north are uncertain whether they will be able to attend the recruitment test for Bangladesh Bank scheduled to be held tomorrow morning in Dhaka due to a transport strike in Rajshahi which started from this morning.
Dhaka-bound passengers, especially job seekers were left in the lurch as bus services remained suspended since this morning.
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Our correspondent in Bogura visited several bus counters and found that inter-district, inter-upazila and Dhaka-bound buses were closed on about 34 routes from Bogura. No buses from Rangpur to Bogura were also allowed to move.
Many job seekers from northern districts had bought bus tickets to go to Dhaka to attend the recruitment test but authorities of bus counters returned their money.
Ankhinur Islam, a job seeker from Lalmonirhat, came to Bogura two days ago. "I went to Thanthania bus counter in Bogura at 2:00pm today and found all counters are closed".
He also went to the railway station but failed to manage any tickets for Dhaka.
"I knew that buses would be closed only in Rajshahi. But I couldn't imagine I would not be able to go to Dhaka from Bogura. How can I take part in the exam?" he asked.
Many job seekers and Dhaka-bound passengers echoed Ankhinur's sentiments.
Bogura district unit BNP Convener Rezaul Karim Badsha said, "People can understand why the Bus Owners and Workers' Association call a sudden strike before the December 3 BNP rally."
Aminul Islam, general secretary of Rajshahi Divisional Motor Owners-Workers Joint Federation, said, "We called the strike as our 10-point demand are yet to be met."
When questioned about restricting buses from Rangpur to Dhaka, Aminul Islam said, "It is a divisional decision that no buses will be able to go to Dhaka or any other district over Rajshahi. That is why Dhaka-bound buses are not allowed to ply on the Rangpur-Bogura highway."
