Employees of UCCA Limited in Sariakandi upazila of Bogra operating under the Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) have remained unpaid for the last 50 months, forcing them and their families to live in severe hardship.
The affected employees have called for urgent government intervention to clear their long-overdue salaries.
Sources said that Shaheen Alam (42), son of late Nurul Islam of Partit Parol village under Sadar union, joined the Upazila Central Cooperative Association (UCCA) Limited in 2014 as an inspector after responding to a recruitment circular issued by BRDB. Although he initially believed the post to be a government job, he later learned that UCCA Limited is a privately managed institution under BRDB, where employee salaries are paid from organizational income.
Shaheen Alam received regular salary payments until 2017. Since then, he has been paid for only five to six months per year, leaving the remaining months unpaid. According to official records, his salary arrears have now accumulated to 50 months. Discussions on bringing UCCA employees’ salaries under the government revenue budget have been ongoing for several years, but no effective measures have been implemented.
As a result, Shaheen Alam and his family are struggling to meet basic needs. Other employees at Sariakandi UCCA office include Inspector Aminul Islam, Accountant Kamrun Nahar Keya, Office Assistants Abdul Momin and Sohel Rana, Night Guard Badiuzzaman, and Cleaner Sakina Begum. Their families are also enduring similar conditions.
It was learned that this crisis is not limited to Sariakandi. UCCA employees working in different parts of the country are facing the same prolonged salary arrears, leaving many families in distress.
“I completed my master’s degree and joined what I believed was a government job,” Shaheen Alam said. “For nearly half the year, my family survives without salary. I cannot properly support my children’s education or meet household expenses. Yet I work regular office hours and carry out field visits like government employees. We appeal to the government to include us under the revenue budget.”
HM Hasan Al Mamun Nayan, President of the Bangladesh National Rural Development Cooperative Federation, said village-level farmers’ cooperatives were established in 1972 to promote rural development. He said these cooperatives initially performed well but later suffered due to lack of funding, training, and effective planning, rendering many of them nearly inactive nationwide.
He emphasized that participatory development is essential for sustainable rural growth and said revitalizing cooperatives is necessary to ensure fair prices for farmers, stabilize markets, and reduce the role of middlemen. “If these cooperatives are revived, employees will also receive their due salaries,” he added, expressing hope that the next government would address the issue.
