& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Halt this Drift — Now
There appears widespread public support for the ultimatum issued by the Government on Sunday that it would make fresh recruitment in place of those office employees who would fall to return to their duties Within three days. By our calculation, the deadline should expire tomorrow
The move reflects a certain toughness on the part of the authorities to tackle an increasingly volatile situation developed over the implementation of the Pay Commission Award. It is a situation created as much by the government employees as by a policy of drift which, we feel obliged to say, has become somewhat characteristic of the administration of Begun! Khaleda Zia Whether this new tough move towards the striking government employees will mark an end to sucn a policy remains to be seen. Unfortunately, we are unable to take an optimistic position on this score. This scepticism relates largely to the chances of success of the ultimatum. The danger is. if the militant union leadership whose strength remains an un known factor can maintain some unity in the ranks and keep even a half of striking employees off their duties, the authorities should feel compelled to Implement the ultimatum, dismiss the offenders and start hiring their replacements. Would the government which is politically vulnerable and administratively inexperienced adopt such a course ? We do not dare speculate on the answer.
While we are unable to contemplate on what lies ahead, we do know what went on. partly behind the scenes and partly in the open, before we reached the present untenable situation. Between the presentation and eventual passage of the budget in which Finance Minister Saifur Rahman had rightly explained why the government could not implement the Pay Commission Award and the strike launched by the employees, there were too many mixed signals sent out to the lower-level Sivernment servants, suggesting that the au-orltles could well change the position taken in the budget. Here, flexibility was confused with indecision, giving rise to unreasonable demands on the part of the employees, which, even when largely met by the authorities, did not produce a solution. What the government Is now left with are. thousands of striking employees, a threatened wave of work stoppages in other sectors, a possible chain reaction In the private sector, signs of price hikes, a breakdown of an understanding with the World Bank and IMF that there would be no increase in unproductive expenditures and. above all. a committed additional Taka 419 crore this year alone for the country's largely unproductive and bloated bureaucracy. This is an unfolding scenario of a disaster.
In our view, the Finance Minister should have remained firm in his assertion that the government was unable to implement the Pay Commission Award. Alternately, he could have kept an escape route in his budget speech by announcing the setting-up of a high-level committee to study the matter In details. In our view, a marginal interim relief to lower-level employees would have been in order. In the case of mid-level officers, the authorities might have accepted the Pay Commission's recommendation of offering them government bonds, instead of Immediate cash payments. We do not know if these options were seriously considered by Mr Rahman. However, we cannot help pointing out that by altering major allocations, without any consultations with the Jatiya Sangsad, the government has shown scant regard for budgetary discipline and poor consideration for the country's parliamentarians of all different parties. Including the ruling BNP.
We are aware that the capacity of a newly-elected government to pursue a tough line, involving possible police action at some stage, is limited. On the other hand, as a democratic regime with powerful mass support, it can still maintain a channel of communication with the striking employees, perhaps at a political level, and explore all possible — and new — avenues for a solution. Last but not the least, let this be a learning experience for the BNP administration, especially for Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Bangladesh can hardly afford to face such a crisis again
The editorial was written before the announcement of withdrawal of all programmes by the government employees. The Daily Star welcomes the development.