Employees lock Bangladesh secretariat over ordinance allowing easier dismissal

Hundreds of government employees on Monday briefly locked the main gate of Bangladesh Secretariat, the heart of the administration, in the capital, intensifying their protests against a new service law which allows easier dismissal of officials for misconduct.

According to eyewitnesses and media reports, officials and employees of the Secretariat, which houses ministries and important government offices, locked the main gate on the third day of their protest against the Public Service Act amendment.

The agitating employees gathered near the main entrance around 12.30 pm. It was reopened about half an hour later, around 1.00 pm.

According to the reports, official activities inside the complex were largely stalled as the employees continued the work stoppage.

The protests started after Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus-led interim government published the revised version of the law, allowing easier dismissal of officials for misconduct.

The government employees threatened to continue the protests until the ordinance was scrapped.

A sense of unease intensified in Bangladesh for the past few days amid protests in the civil administration and business sector over the policies of the Yunus-led interim government. A prominent business community leader Showkat Aziz Russell said businessmen were being killed just like the intellectuals in the 1971 war. He warned of famine-like situation as more became jobless. “We won’t be able to pay workers ahead of Eid,” he added.