Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been given lifetime membership of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (Ducsu).

The decision was taken at the second executive meeting of Ducus today.

The meeting, chaired by ex officio president of the Ducsu and DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman, also approved a budget of Tk 1 crore and 89 lakhs for Ducsu for 2019-2020 fiscal year.

Besides, issues including introducing health insurance for the students and fixing the rickshaw fare were discussed in the meeting, Saddam Hussain, assistant general secretary of Ducsu, told The Daily Star.

As per the Ducsu charter, the student union’s general secretary Golam Rabbani called the meeting.

Earlier, during the first executive meeting of Ducsu on March 23, Shahrima Tanjina Arni, international affairs secretary of the student union, made the proposal to give lifetime membership in which 23 members, who won the election from Bangladesh Chhatra League’s panel, extended their support.

Ducsu Vice-President Nurul Haque Nur and Social Service Affairs Secretary Akhtar Hossen opposed the proposal, saying a highly respected person like the prime minister should not be included in the Ducsu which was formed through a questionable election.

Asked, Nurul Haque said, “I have been opposing the proposal since the beginning because a controversial election took place. It would not be wise to give lifetime membership to a respected person like the prime minister in this Ducsu.”

“Besides, there is no such clause [giving lifetime membership] in the amended constitution. It is not understandable to me how they raised such proposal,” he said.