Offices resume after Eid holiday

The government offices, courts, banks and financial institutions resumed their operation on Wednesday after a three-day vacation of the holy Eid-ul-Azha, the second biggest religious festival of the Muslims.
However, a festive atmosphere is still prevailing in the capital city, as a large number of holidaymakers have not returned yet.
Offices witnessed a thin attendance and plying of vehicles was also relatively less.
According to a newly-announced schedule, offices were opened at 9.00 am and continued until 5.00 pm. Before the Eid-ul-Azha, the office time was 9.00 am to 4.00 pm.
The government announced a three-day holiday from June 16 to 18 on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha to which was added the two days' weekend on June 14-15 (Friday-Saturday) making the Eid holiday a five-day one in the aggregate.
A big number of the top and mid-level officials of the Secretariat are still on leave although offices resumed operations on Wednesday.
Visiting Bangladesh Secretariat, the FE correspondents found officials and employees in different ministries exchanging Eid greetings with each other and passing time gossiping due to absence of work pressure.
Many officials took two days' (Wednesday and Thursday) leave with the Eid holiday.
An official at the Ministry of Shipping said that fulltime official work will continue from the first working day (Sunday) next week.
Transactions at the banks and the financial institutions in the city were low due to poor presence of customers.
Talking to the FE, an official at Rupali Bank PLC Rajarbagh branch in the city said that the number of customers was low on Wednesday compared to the normal working days.
He, however, said that they were expecting usual presence of customers from next week.
Mahfuzur Rahman, first assistant vice president of Midland Bank Ltd, told the FE that while officers and employees returned to the office after Eid, customer footfall remained sparse.
During a visit to Gabtoli, Kalyanpur, Shyamoli, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Paltan, Shantinagar and Rampura areas in Dhaka on Wednesday morning, it was observed movement of both private vehicles and public transports was less on the roads than the normal working days.
Many shops in these areas were still closed. Some roadside shops were found open but those were almost empty of buyers.
Md Sayed Jonaed, a private jobholder who on Wednesday afternoon went to Jahangirnagar University for a pleasure trip from Motijheel in Dhaka, said that he reached his destination in about an hour, whereas it takes two and a half to three hours to go this distance during normal office days due to traffic jam.
Bangladesh Supreme Court operated only one High Court division bench and Chamber Court at the Appellate Division.
Eid-ul-Azha was celebrated across the country amid due solemnity and religious fervour on June 17 through offering Eid prayers at Eidgahs and mosques and sacrificing animals.
Journalists and other officials working in the newspapers enjoyed a three-day Eid-ul-Azha holiday from June 16 to 18.
Many government and private sector employees who have travelled home for Eid have taken additional leave delaying the return to full office activities.
Most educational institutions, especially primary and secondary level schools, in Dhaka will remain closed until July 2.
Business centres may take few days to resume their activities, when Dhaka is expected to get back its normal face.
Earlier offices in Bangladesh used to run from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. In order to save power and energy the government on November 15, 2022 issued new office timing for the government, semi-government, autonomous, and semi-autonomous institutions of the country from 9.00am to 4.00pm.

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