The government offices have been instructed to resume activities on a limited scale tomorrow as the curfew will be relaxed for seven hours from 10am to 5pm on Wednesday and Thursday.
Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain said the government offices will run activities from 11am-3pm Wednesday and Thursday.
Curfew relaxation hours and consequently duration of office time will be extended further soon, but the government has yet to decide on the reopening of the educational institutions.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a statutory regulatory order that kept 7% quota-based appointments in public services following the verdict of the Supreme Court.
Although the High Court has given the authority to the government to amend the quota system, the government is unwilling to go against the verdict of the Supreme Court right now, said Law Minister Anisul Hoq in a press briefing at his residence in the capital’s Gulshan area on Tuesday.
Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain, Education Minister Muhibul Hasan Chowdhury, and Information and Broadcast Minister Ali Arafat were also present there.
“The curfew will be lifted once the overall situation in the country returns to normal,” said the law minister.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Tuesday said curfew will be relaxed in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, and Gazipur from 10am to 5pm starting tomorrow, adding that district administrations will decide on enforcing curfew in the other districts.
While talking to the Daily Sun, Mejbaul Haque, spokesperson for Bangladesh Bank, on Tuesday said some fixed branches of the banks will run activities from 11am to 3pm on a limited scale from tomorrow while the stock trading will run from 11am to 2pm.
As the internet services remained off, the four ministers came up with a printed copy of the order on quota-based appointments in public services. The law minister briefed the reporters elaborately about the amendment in quota-based appointments in government jobs.
The statuary regulatory order says 93% of the recruitments in government, semi-government, autonomous, and other organisations will be made based on merit, while a 5% quota is for the sons and daughters of freedom fighters.
1% quota is for ethnic minorities, while 1% quota is for candidates with disabilities and of third gender, reads the statement.
However, if the eligible candidates cannot be recruited from the designated quota, recruitment to the posts will be merit-based, says the order.
All gazette notifications, orders, and directives, including the circular of 4 October 2018 have been abolished.
The order will be effective immediately.
BDST: 2250 HRS, JULY 23, 2024
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