Dhaka, Oct. 8 -- Local Government State Minister Mir Shahe Alam has backtracked on his earlier position, saying Monthly Pay Order (MPO)-listed teachers face no barrier to contesting in local government elections.

The minister told a teachers' conference in Dhaka on Thursday that nothing in law or policy blocks their candidacy until private institutions are nationalised.

On Sept 13, Alam had told journalists at the Secretariat that the local government law bars anyone holding a profitable full-time post in the republic, a council or any other local authority from contesting.

Rule 11.17 (Ka) and (Kha) of the Private School and College Manpower Structure and MPO Policy 2025 treats teachers' posts as profitable, he had said, so the law and...