The government has reduced the hours of government and private offices and courts by one hour to deal with the global energy crisis. As per the decision, offices will operate from 9 am to 5 pm instead of 4 pm. In addition, all shops, commercial establishments and shopping malls in the country will remain closed by 6 pm.
The cabinet meeting began at 8:45 pm on Thursday at the Cabinet Room of the National Parliament Secretariat under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The meeting lasted for about three hours until about 10:45 pm. Later, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani announced the decision to hold the meeting at a briefing there.
The Cabinet Secretary said that the meeting was held at the Parliament House under special circumstances. The Prime Minister is working for 18 hours and the meeting has been organized at the Parliament House to save travel time and avoid traffic jams.
Referring to the reduction of office hours by one hour, he said that from the next working day, all government and private offices will operate from 9 am to 4 pm. That is, office hours have been reduced by 1 hour. In addition, banks will operate from 9 am to 3 pm, but banks will close at 4 pm to complete ancillary work. And all markets, shops and shopping malls in the country will be closed after 6 pm to save energy and electricity. However, essential services like raw markets, drug stores and food shops will be exempted from this directive. This will be strictly monitored by the Ministry of Commerce.
The Cabinet Secretary did not announce any final decision on the issue if a decision is made to hold online classes three days a week in educational institutions in this meeting. He said that the Ministry of Education will issue separate instructions regarding educational institutions, which may be effective from next Sunday. In addition, it has been decided to import electric buses duty-free to reduce the use of private cars by school-going students and to ease traffic congestion. Schools that participate in this initiative will receive special benefits. In the commercial sector, the duty on the import of new electric buses has also been reduced to 20 percent. However, no old buses can be brought.
Nasimul Ghani also said that the government has been ordered to reduce expenditure on energy, electricity and gas by 30 percent from the budget. No new government vehicles (road, naval or aircraft) and computer equipment will be purchased for the next three months. In addition, all foreign travel and internal training of government officials has been banned by 50 percent. The entertainment costs of meetings and seminars have also been reduced by 50 percent.
Regarding the ban on lighting, the Cabinet Secretary said that the Cabinet Secretary has made it clear that no lighting will be allowed at any private wedding or festival during this time of energy crisis.
Nasimul Ghani also announced the approval of the draft of the Public Examination Offences Amendment Act in this meeting. He said that steps have been taken to make the trial of crimes in public examinations stricter by amending this 1980 law.
Stating that the government is looking for alternative sources as oil supply lines have become somewhat insecure due to the war in the Middle East, Nasimul Ghani said that the process of importing oil from Malaysia, Indonesia and Kazakhstan has already started, the secretary said.
He also said that the government is continuing to subsidize the fuel sector to alleviate the suffering of the common people and is making maximum efforts to deal with this situation & concerned authorities opine that it is imperative that a full pledged online Education system be in place as long as this situation persists.
