Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday announced scraping of quota system in public service and urged students to return to their classes.

She came up with the announcement during the question-answer session in Parliament amid strong protests by jobseekers and university students across the country against the quota system, reports the UNB.

‘To stop this sufferings and troubles, the quota system has been cancelled,’ the premier said in a statement in parliament referring to the impact of the protests affecting public life and disruption of academic activities in universities, reports the BSS.

The premier added: ‘Classes and examinations were suspended at all universities and the common people are suffering from severe traffic jam due to the demonstrations of the students demanding reform in quota system.’

‘Why the common people will suffer repeatedly,’ she said in reply to a supplementary raised by Awami League lawmaker Jahangir Kabir Nanak in the House.

Earlier, traffic movement in different parts of the capital came to a halt on Wednesday as university students continued their demonstrations for the fourth consecutive day blocking roads to press home their demand for reform of the quota system in government jobs.

According to reports reaching the UNB news desk, thousands of students took to the streets in Mirpur, Farmgate, Sukrabad, and Dhanmondi areas demanding quota reform.

Students of Asia Pacific University brought out a procession in Green Road area and took position at Farmegate, halting traffic movement.

Traffic movements at Panthapath and Mirpur Road remained suspended for several hours as the students of Daffodil International University took to the streets to press home their demand.

Students of several private universities also put up blockades at Satmasjid Road in the city’s Dhanmondi area creating huge trouble to commuters as well as students of school and colleges.

Students of different private universities, including Asia Pacific, World, City, UIU, Ahsanullah and North South put up barricade on roads at Agargaon, Mirpur Road, Azimpur, Jigatola, Firmgate, Dhanmondi and Basundhara areas disrupting vehicular movement and triggering huge traffic gridlock.

Students of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University took to the streets at 10 am to express solidarity with the movement for quota reform, disrupting traffic at Bijoy Sarani and Mirpur Road.

Students of Eden College, Dhaka College and Home Economics College took position at New Market intersection around 10:4m am and staged demonstrations. Besides, students of Daffodil University blocked road on the eastern side of Dhanmondi-27.

Earlier in the morning, several hundred Dhaka University students gathered in front of its Central Library and staged demonstrations as part of their scheduled programme.