Despite being the last working day before the start of a long holiday for puja and eid, few people were around on Sunday at the Secretariat, the centre of the country’s civil administration.
Most ministers, state ministers, secretaries and senior bureaucrats did not return to work on Sunday after the two-day weekend.
According to the security section, about 40% to 45% of Secretariat staff were present on Sunday.
According to ministry sources, most ministers and state ministers did not attend their offices on Sunday as they were occupied with political programmes, or meeting with party activists and voters in their constituencies ahead of the next general elections.
A four-day official holiday for Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Azha begins on Monday, followed by the weekend.
Meanwhile, most of the employees who showed up for work on Sunday left by midday to return to their villages for the six-day long vacation.
Few others who did not plan to leave the city, remained in their offices only until 3pm, but they did not get much work done and requested visitors to come back next Monday.
The sources said the ministries will resume work as usual after Monday, as most people will be busy exchanging Eid greetings when offices reopen on Sunday.
