Office hours set at 9am-3pm for three days

Highlights:

• Regular office hours are 9am-3pm
• Bank hours are 10am-3pm
• Curfew relaxed for 9hrs from 8am-5pm

For the next three days from Sunday, government offices across the country will remain open for six hours starting at 9am, while the curfew in Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, and Narsingdi districts will be relaxed from 8am to 5pm.

"Given the ongoing situation, the office schedule has been set. Future timings will be determined based on the situation," said Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain, speaking to journalists after a programme at Biam Auditorium in the capital today.

"The situation is coming under control. The curfew is being relaxed. We hope everything will be normal soon," he added.

The home ministry said the curfew will remain in force for the next three days. However, in Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, and Narsingdi districts, the curfew will be relaxed from 8am to 5pm. In other districts, the relaxation times will be determined by the respective district magistrates.

According to officials, the curfew will be relaxed in the districts of Rangpur, Khulna, and Barisal divisions from 6am to 9pm, in Mymensingh division from 7am to 7pm, and in the districts of Chattogram division from 6am to 8pm. Curfew will remain relaxed in other districts as well.

Officials at the public administration ministry said private offices, like government offices, will also be open from 9am to 3pm from Sunday to Tuesday.

In light of the anti-quota protests and subsequent incidents, educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and universities, have been closed since 17 July. There is still no decision from the government regarding their reopening.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, government and private offices were open for four hours, from 11 am to 3 pm, due to the indefinite curfew imposed on the midnight of 19 July. 

The government had declared a general holiday from 21-23 July, but after the curfew was relaxed, offices reopened, though not at their usual capacity.

Following the change in office hours, the Bangladesh Bank adjusted the operating hours for banks. From Sunday to Tuesday, public and private banks will operate from 10am to 3pm.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission announced that trading in the capital market will occur from 10am to 2pm over the next three days.

An official of the public administration ministry stated that other conditions of the holiday will remain unchanged. This means that emergency services such as electricity, water, gas, and other fuels, fire services, and port operations, as well as cleaning, telephone, internet, postal services, and vehicles and workers engaged in related work, will be exempt from this schedule.

Additionally, hospitals and emergency services, along with their staff, doctors, and those engaged in medical services, as well as vehicles and personnel transporting medical equipment and medicines, will also be exempt. Offices handling urgent work will be outside the scope of this schedule as well