5-day Durga Puja holiday; offices to remain open on preceding Saturday

The government has approved a five-day holiday for the upcoming Sharadiya Durga Puja, from 20 to 24 October. However, government offices will remain open on the preceding Saturday, 17 October.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Monday. The Cabinet Division later announced the decisions.

According to the government’s holiday calendar, Tuesday, 20 October, was already declared a holiday by executive order on the occasion of Navami. The following day, Wednesday, 21 October, is a public holiday for Bijoya Dashami. Thursday, 22 October, will now also be a holiday by executive order.

As a result, there will be holidays from 20 to 22 October for Durga Puja. 23 and 24 October are Friday and Saturday, the weekly holidays. With the approval of the 22 October holiday, people will therefore get five consecutive days off, from 20 to 24 October. To compensate for the additional holiday, offices will remain open on Saturday, 17 October, as working day.

The Ministry of Public Administration will now issue a notification on the matter.

A senior official of the Ministry of Public Administration told Prothom Alo a few days ago that the holiday would apply to government, semi-government, autonomous, semi-autonomous and private offices. In other words, these institutions will remain closed during the holiday.

However, emergency services are exempt from such holidays. These include electricity, water, gas and other fuel services; fire service; port operations; sanitation services; telephone and internet services; postal services; and vehicles and personnel involved in these services.

Hospitals and emergency services will also remain operational. Physicians and other healthcare workers, vehicles and personnel transporting medicines and medical equipment, and offices involved in emergency operations will likewise be exempt from the holiday.

The Bangladesh Bank issues necessary instructions regarding the continuation of banking operations during such holidays. The Supreme Court issues necessary instructions regarding court proceedings. These matters will be specified in the government notification.

The cabinet meeting also decided to observe 7 November every year as a public holiday marking “National Revolution and Solidarity Day.”

According to a circular issued by the Cabinet Division on the observance of national and international days, 7 November will be observed as “National Revolution and Solidarity Day” as a Category A day.