The government is positive on the note of forming a new wage board for journalists, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said today.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given the “go ahead,” Quader said in Tangail. “Almost 80 percent of the necessary work has been completed in this regard.”

He was talking to reporters in Rabna bypass area of Dhaka-Tangail highway while scrutinizing the condition of the road ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha.

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The premier has instructed Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu to initiate a dialogue involving all the stakeholders, he added. “The process is moving smoothly and there is no bar to it,” he said.

Quader said there is now only one bar to this end and that is the participation of media owners. “We are optimistic that the owners will also get involved in the dialogue process,” he said.

Responding to a query, Quader said he does not know about the finance minister’s remarks on the note of the wage board – which has come to disappoint journalists.