From empowerment to exclusion: The crisis facing Bangladesh’s Tottho Apas
The crisis facing the Tottho Apas began after the ouster of the fascist regime on 5 August last year. Soon after, their salaries were frozen. From July to December, these women, many the sole earners in their families, received nothing
Sumaiya Akhtar is a Tottho Seba Officer from Fulgazi in Feni, better known as Tottho Apa. She is now supposed to serve in her rural upazila, helping local women access vital information, learn digital skills, and benefit from government services to improve their lives.
But when we met her on 15 July, standing in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, Sumaiya looked like anything but the confident public service worker she was trained to be.
She appeared visibly drained, her face darkened from days under the scorching sun, and her salwar kameez still soaked from a sudden shower just moments before.
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"We have been protesting like this for nearly two months now, under the blazing sun and heavy downpour. This is a fight for our survival. If our demands are not met, a huge number of women like us will be rendered jobless. We are already on the streets, and soon, we will be there with our families as well," she lamented.
They are right now demanding two key actions from the government: first, that instead of being let go after the project expired in June, all Tottho Apa workers be absorbed into permanent revenue-sector positions with a unified pay scale; and second, the return of Tk20.42 crore, which was deducted from their salaries over the past seven years on the promise of eventual regularisation, along with payment of long-overdue allowances.
Sumaiya said that although their protest had begun on 28 May, and even though they continued their programme even on Eid day (7 June) and the following day (8 June), staying on the pavement in front of the National Press Club, no one from the interim government reached out to them.
Instead, on 1 June, when the protesters attempted to march towards the Chief Adviser's residence at Jamuna, police blocked their path. Eventually, the police launched an unprovoked assault, tagging the women as "terrorists."
Images and videos of the attack quickly spread across social media and television. Friends and acquaintances began calling in shock, but for the Tottho Apas, the public exposure was deeply humiliating.
"Many of us are now determined that we will not return home until our demands are fulfilled; we cannot face our communities under such shame," Sumaiya said.
But the crisis facing the Tottho Apas did not start there. It traces back to the political upheaval following the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government on 5 August last year. Soon after, their salaries were frozen. From July to December, these women, many the sole earners in their families, received nothing. By January, pushed to the brink, they took to the streets to demand their overdue wages.
Farjana Khatun, a Tottho Apa from Barishal, recalled how desperate the situation became. Some women couldn't afford medical treatment for their children. Others had no food at home.
"One Tottho Apa I know nearly saw her marriage fall apart. Many others had also turned down better-paying private sector jobs, believing that their roles in the government-backed project offered long-term security."
That belief, she said, turned into bitter regret.
Sangeeta Sarkar, president of the protest steering committee and a Tottho Apa from Jhalokathi, expressed frustration that after more than 50 days of protest this time around, the government had still not responded meaningfully.
While speaking to The Business Standard, Sangeeta, in addition to their two existing demands, also called on political leaders and government advisers—many of whom have already expressed support—to sit with them and chart a long-term solution.
She was referring to 16 June, when several political parties visited the protest site to express solidarity. Among them were Gonosonghoti Andolon, AB Party, National Citizen Party (NCP), Rashtra Sangskar Andolon, Nagorik Oikya, Biplobi Workers Party, and Bhashani Jonoshokti Party.
Gonosonghoti's Junaid Saki remarked, "The government's unwillingness to listen to peaceful demands reflects a new era of repression." He urged the Chief Adviser to meet with the protesters within 48 hours and warned that excluding trained personnel from the next phase of the project would damage administrative balance.
Samanta Sharmin, senior joint convener of the NCP, also said, "It is inhumane to deprive the women employed under this project based on their party affiliation or political tags. The adviser to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs must immediately sit with all the stakeholders to find a solution."
"Two working mothers had brought their children because they had no one to leave them with at home. If a mother brings her child to a meeting, does that count as blackmail?"
Despite this show of cross-party support, a meeting of a delegation of 10 protesting Tottho Apas held on 19 June with Sharmin S Murshid, adviser to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, ended in disappointment. During the discussion, the adviser even accused the women of blackmail.
"You are embarrassing the very government you are seeking help from. You are cornering and blackmailing it—this is called blackmail," she said.
She further said, "There is an effort underway to extend the project by one more year. They are not unemployed yet. The door to dialogue remains open. Still, the government is being embarrassed by their continued protests on the streets day after day. Many beneficiaries of the previous government have infiltrated this movement, aiming to harass the current government."
The adviser alleged that the protest is being politicised.
Regarding the two-point demand of the Tottho Apas, Sharmin Murshid said, "I cannot make the promise to create permanent positions under the revenue sector. Many ministries are involved in this. It's a time-consuming matter."
Asked about the meeting, Sangeeta expressed deep outrage. Two working mothers, she said, had brought their children because they had no one to leave them with at home. "If a mother brings her child to a meeting, does that count as blackmail?", she asked.
She reiterated that Tottho Apa is the only government project in the country that employs only women to empower other women. Firing them without cause, she warned, "would send the wrong message to the entire women community. It would demotivate those who look up to them and see them as role models."
The Tottho Apa project began in 2011 with a simple but powerful goal: to empower rural women by giving them access to ICT services, basic healthcare information, legal aid, agricultural advice, and small business support. It is run by the National Women's Organisation under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, with a budget of Tk 603 crore.
At first, the project was called Tottho Apa: Women's Empowerment through Information and Communication Technology for Building Digital Bangladesh. In 2023, after a change in political leadership, it was renamed during an ECNEC meeting to Tottho Apa: Women's Empowerment through Information and Communication Technology Project (2nd Phase) (2nd Revised).
Its second phase began in late 2018 and expanded to 492 upazilas. Each upazila had one Tottho Apa, two Information Service Assistants, and one outsourced office assistant. The Development Project Proposal (DPP) planned for 2,484 staff overall, but due to delays in salary payments and ongoing uncertainty, many left their jobs, and the workforce has dropped to 1,968.
Most of the offices are located inside Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) buildings, but some are run from rented spaces because of limited government facilities. Despite all the challenges, the project continues to help women apply for jobs online and register for social protection programmes. It also runs an e-commerce platform called Lal Sobuj Dot Com, where women can sell their products online.
Writer and researcher Maha Mirza, speaking on behalf of Nagorik Samabesh, mentioned that over the past seven years, more than Tk 20.42 crore had been deducted from these workers' salaries with the assurance that they would be transferred to the revenue sector.
"The Tottho Apas filed a writ petition in 2022 to reclaim this amount. Although the court ruled in their favour, the money has still not been paid," she said.
"In the past 15 years under fascist rule, there has been rampant looting even within ministry-run projects. But field-level workers are not responsible for that corruption. The blame lies with the senior officials who designed and managed these projects. Yet, unbelievably, Tottho Apas are being dismissed as 'Awami garbage,' while no secretaries or deputy secretaries are being removed from their positions," Mirza added.
