Dhaka, Oct. 20 -- Teachers and employees at educational institutions under the government's monthly pay order (MPO) scheme have begun a ninth day of protests to demand increases on a number of their allowances, particularly their housing allowance.

The protesters took up positions at Dhaka's Central Shaheed Minar on Monday morning and started a rally. Nearly 100 teachers are conducting a hunger strike to press home their demands.

Protest leaders hope that high-level government officials will accept their demands and bring about a quick "resolution" to the issue.

Since Oct 12 the protesters have called for increasing the house rent allowance to 20 percent of their basic salary, an increase in medical allowance from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500, a...