Government employees across the country have begun a coordinated one-hour work stoppage in protest against the recently issued Public Service Ordinance.
The demonstration began at 10:00 AM on Thursday and will continue until 11:00 AM. According to organizers, this daily work stoppage will persist until the ordinance is withdrawn.
The Secretariat Officers and Employees Unity Forum announced the decision to carry out the one-hour protest each day starting Thursday.
Forum Co-Chairman Md. Badiul Kabir confirmed that the protest began as scheduled, with employees in government offices outside the Secretariat also participating.
During the work stoppage, union leaders from the Secretariat are scheduled to visit government offices in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area to monitor participation.
The protest movement escalated after the government enacted the Public Service Ordinance on Sunday night, following earlier demonstrations over the weekend.
The ordinance enables authorities to terminate public servants for four categories of misconduct by issuing just a seven-day show-cause notice.
In response, employees staged demonstrations on Monday and Tuesday. A meeting between senior secretaries and union leaders took place on Tuesday afternoon, which led to a temporary suspension of protests on Wednesday based on assurances given by the officials.
Following that meeting, the secretaries conveyed the employees’ demands to the Cabinet Secretary on Wednesday. The matter is expected to be formally presented to the Chief Adviser upon his return from an official foreign visit.
