Civil servants protesting at the Secretariat for the last few days demanding the withdrawal of the Government Service Ordinance have suspended their demonstrations until 10am on Wednesday.
Land Ministry Senior Secretary ASM Saleh Ahmed confirmed the development after a meeting with leaders of the protesting government employees on Tuesday.
Secretaries participating in discussions will inform Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid about the protesters' demands on the same day, Saleh said this after the meeting at the Land Ministry's conference room.
The protesting employees suspended the program to facilitate discussions, both sides announced during a press briefing after the meeting.
Saleh said their demands will be conveyed to the appropriate authorities, adding that an announcement will be made from the higher levels of the government.
He said: “We sat down with a few secretaries and listened to the demands of the protesters. In fact, we are all government employees… We will present the summary of their statement to the Cabinet secretary tomorrow. The government will take the next decision.”
At that time, two people spoke on behalf of the protesters, saying that they have agreed to suspend the movement.
The meeting with protest leaders began at 2:45pm under the chairmanship of Saleh.
Five more secretaries participated in the meeting.
In addition, representatives of various organizations of protesting employees joined the meeting.
Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid held an emergency meeting with several secretaries in the morning.
The meeting decided to form a committee to review the Government Service Ordinance.
At the meeting, the land secretary was given the responsibility to talk to the protest coordinators.
The protests began on Saturday demanding the repeal of the Government Services (Amendment) Ordinance.
A 13-member review committee will review the ordinance.
Officials from the Ministry of Public Administration and the Cabinet Division said the committee will be formed with seven secretaries, including Sheikh Abu Taher, secretary of the Law and Justice Division.
An official said that in addition, representatives of the protesting employees are in the committee.
Entry for visitors was suspended for the day. Although there was no ban on the entry of journalists, they could not enter the Secretariat till 1:30pm.
Md Nurul Islam, president of a council of the protesting officers and employees, said: “We started our protest per our earlier announcement. With no journalists present, we repeatedly requested the Secretariat’s duty officers to allow media access. Unfortunately, our requests were ignored.
“Today, employees from every ministry joined the protest. Our demand is one and the same — repeal this black ordinance. We want to return to work, but we will continue protesting until it is withdrawn.”
Employees outside the Secretariat also expressed solidarity.
One protester said: “We have warned that this law could be misused by dishonest officials. It will not benefit the government or the general workforce, only a few corrupt individuals. Even now, our officials are being threatened, and we have been warned not to leave our rooms. But no one could keep us confined today. If our demand is not met, the movement will escalate.”
Notably, in the Government Service (Amendment) Ordinance, changes have been made in the job security and promotion of government employees through the reorganization of some provisions, with which employees of various government departments have expressed dissatisfaction and joined the protests.
