Secretariat staffers threaten to besiege finance ministry

Secretariat employees have threatened to lay siege to the Ministry of Finance on Sunday if the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 is not scrapped within the next 48 hours.

The announcement came during a brief rally in front of Building-4 at the Secretariat yesterday, where leaders of the Bangladesh Secretariat Officers and Employees Unity Forum addressed protesters.

Badiul Kabir, co-chairman of the forum, declared the protest programme. Forum co-chairman Nurul Islam and co-general secretary Nazrul Islam were also present, along with other leaders and protesters.

"We will not accept any amendment to this ordinance. This is a black law and it must be repealed," Badiul Kabir said, warning that employees would stage a sit-in in front of the Finance Ministry on Sunday.

"If this disrupts all activities of the building, we will not take responsibility," he added.

He urged the government to withdraw the ordinance within 48 hours and create the conditions for employees to return to their duties.

Issued on May 25, the ordinance allows authorities to dismiss public servants for administrative disruptions within 14 days and without departmental proceedings or formal investigations.

Since its issuance, the Secretariat staff have been staging continuous protests, calling for the ordinance to be revoked.

In response, on June 4, the government formed a review committee headed by the law adviser.

The committee held its first meeting on Monday and reportedly agreed to engage in dialogue with employee representatives.

However, employee leaders yesterday claimed that they had yet to receive any formal invitation from the government for such discussions.