United News of Bangladesh

Government and private offices, along with banks, financial institutions, and courts, resumed operations on Sunday following a nine-day holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr. Officials and employees returning to work were seen exchanging Eid greetings with colleagues. A festive mood still lingered as many holidaymakers have yet to return to the capital. The number of vehicles and people on the roads remained lower than on regular working days. Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals for Muslims, was celebrated across the country last Monday. The Eid holidays began on March 28 and ended on April 5.

Government employees in Bangladesh are going to enjoy an extended holiday during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr due to additional public holidays and weekend holidays. The government has already announced a five-day holiday for Eid but additional public holidays and weekends will extend the holidays. On October 17, 2024, the council of advisers approved the list of 26 holidays in 2025, including a 5-day holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr. As per the list, the official Eid holiday will begin on March 29 and continue until April 2. The holiday stretch extends further due to other scheduled holidays. March 28, the day before the official Eid holiday, falls on a Friday, which is a weekend, and also coincides with the public holiday for Shab-e-Qadr. Proper use of long Eid vacation can ensure smooth travel: Experts Besides, March 26 is a public holiday for Independence Day and only March 27 (Thursday) is a working day before the Eid holiday begins. After the Eid break, offices will reopen on April 3 (Thursday), but the following two days—April 4 and 5—are Friday and Saturday. This means that within an 11-day period from March 26 to April 5, government offices will be operational for only two days—March 27 and April 3. No security risk ahead of Eid, Independence Day celebrations: Home Secretary Eid-ul-Fitr is expected to be observed on March 31, depending on the sighting of the moon. As the long break approaches, authorities are urging people to plan their travel accordingly to avoid hassles on roads during the festive period.

The Ministry of Public Administration has issued instructions to take action against government employees posting on social media without adhering to established guidelines. A letter was sent to secretaries, senior secretaries, divisional commissioners, and district administrators on Thursday instructing them to take immediate steps against employees violating social media protocols. ACC seeks info on dual citizenship of govt employees The letter said certain government officials are using social media to post status updates that not only undermine the government’s image but may also jeopardise national security. In its communication, the Ministry pointed out that a number of employees have been disregarding the “Social Media Usage Guidelines for Government Institutions, 2019.” These employees have been sharing documents and posting content that embarrasses the government or creates unnecessary controversy, which goes against the service rules for government personnel. Govt employees to receive dearness allowance The Ministry’s warning said that such behavior is both a breach of the official code of conduct and, in some cases, could be deemed harmful to national security. The Ministry’s guidelines clearly state that employees must refrain from engaging in conduct that is detrimental to the government or violates the code of ethics for public servants. Such actions can be categorized as misconduct under the 'Government Employee Discipline and Appeal Rules, 2018.' Govt employees must submit wealth statement by November 30: Senior Secretary To address these concerns, the Ministry has urged relevant authorities to take necessary actions in line with established regulations. The letter stressed the importance of vigilant monitoring and adherence to the social media usage guidelines, with strict consequences for violations.

Bangladesh Government employees who are expecting a new pay scale in the upcoming budget of fiscal year 2023-24, have to be satisfied with a maximum 20 percent dearness allowance (DA). Highest importance has been given to the stability of the macro economy of the country in the next budget. The prime minister will finalize the budget proposal in a meeting to be held in the second week of May, finance ministry sources said. The ministry, as per the direction of the prime minister, has set a total budget of Tk 759,955 crore for FY 2023-24. Highest allocations have been kept for interest payment and subsidy expenditure. A proposal for a special allowance has been prepared, taking into account the price hike of essentials due to the ongoing inflation, sources said. Read More: Next budget will make businesses and common people happy: Finance Minister Officials directly involved in budget formulation have confirmed that there will be no new pay scale. The upcoming election year budget is the last budget of the current government. In the new budget, there is no allocation for the nationalization of schools and colleges or the inclusion of MPOs, said officials of the finance department. Officials of the finance ministry said that government employees had been expecting a new pay scale in the upcoming budget for a long time, but the prime minister rejected it. In the current fiscal year 2022-23, the government has reduced expenditure in various sectors. Over Tk 1,000 crore has been saved from salaries and allowances (foreign travel) of government employees. Read More: BGMEA donates part of money budgeted for iftar programme to old-age home The total allocation for salaries and allowances in the revised budget for the financial year 2022-23 was Tk 73,173 crore. However, the finance department has estimated an allocation of Tk 77,000 crore for salaries and allowances in the upcoming fiscal year. The government usually announces new pay scale every five years. After implementing the seventh pay scale in 2009, the government implemented a new pay scale in 2015 by increasing the salary by almost 100 percent. Since then, government employees are getting a 5 percent increment every year in July. Eight years have passed since then and different organizations of government employees are demanding a new pay scale, citing the price hike of goods, including food, due to the Ukraine-Russia war. According to official documents, in the new budget, subsidy expenses would take up Tk 100,134 crore. The total revenue collection target would be Tk 500,000 crore, which is 15 percent more than that of this fiscal year. Read more: CPD bats for special increment for inflation-hit public/private employees in next national budget Of the sum, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been tasked with fetching Tk 430,000 crore, which is 16.2 percent more than this year. Bangladesh's Annual Development Program (ADP) has been set at Tk 263,000 crore while expected GDP growth is 7.5 percent. The estimated inflation has been set at 6 percent that was 5.6 percent in the budget of 2022-23.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam has said that government employees won’t have to submit separate wealth statement while filing income tax returns from now on. The secretary said this during a press briefing after a meeting of the Secretaries at the Secretariat on Sunday. “The one-page wealth statement that government employees have to submit to the NBR while filing income tax return isn’t necessary anymore. From now on, the government officials will submit the statement to the Ministry of Public Administration,” said Anwarul. Read more: Tax lawyers seek 2 months more for filing income tax returns He added that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) hasn't expressed any objection to the new directive. “I sat with NBR officials and the Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry to discuss the issue and all of us have agreed on the new measure. A circular will be published soon in this regard and after that, the one-page wealth statement that was previously submitted to NBR will be given to the Ministry,” Anwarul added. According to the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1979, government officials are bound to submit wealth statements and take permission for buying or selling properties after every five years. But this rule has been neglected for long, and the government hasn't tried to implement it either. Read more: Govt struggles to lift tax-GDP ratio to double digits On June 24, 2021, the Ministry of Public Administration sent letters to all the ministries and their secretaries to immediately apply this rule on all the government employees following a directive from the Prime Minister herself. Although the ministries are trying to make the rule effective, government officials are yet to respond.

Dhaka, Oct 21 (UNB) – The High Court on Monday issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why permission from the authorities concerned before arresting a government employee in criminals cases as per section 41 (1) of the Government Service Act 2018, should not be declared illegal and contradictory to the constitution.