From senior secretaries to field-level officers, staff at the country’s administrative nerve centre – the Secretariat – have begun arriving at work on time following the formation of the new government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
Similar patterns are being reported at district and upazila offices across the country.
The shift follows directives from the prime minister instructing officials to adhere strictly to official working hours.
Officials say the move is expected to inject fresh momentum into the administration, ultimately improving performance and ensuring more efficient public service delivery.
For years, public frustration has centred on irregular office hours in government offices. Officials were frequently absent, and even when present, their departure times were often unclear. Those seeking services regularly faced delays and uncertainty.
In an effort to change that culture – and to put an end to the familiar phrase “the officer is not in” – the prime minister has directed officials to strictly observe official working hours.
Since assuming office, the prime minister has taken a firm stance on punctuality within the civil service. On Sunday, he verbally directed all government officials to report to work on time.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet Division followed up with a formal directive requiring employees of all government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies to arrive and leave according to their prescribed schedules.
The letter cited the Government Employees (Regular Attendance) Rules 2019 and Clause 86 of the Secretariat Instructions 2024, which make attendance and departure at designated times mandatory for all officials and staff in such institutions.
It also called for necessary steps to ensure compliance and asked ministries and agencies to issue similar instructions to their subordinate offices. In addition, field-level officials have been instructed not to leave their stations on weekly or other holidays without prior approval from the appropriate authority.
During Ramadan, government offices operate from 9am to 3:30pm. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been keeping to that schedule himself, working from his office at the Secretariat.
The prime minister’s additional press secretary, Atikur Rahman Ruman, confirmed the development in a Facebook post, saying the PM entered his office at 9:05am. Over the past week, he has maintained regular hours unless official engagements required otherwise.
It is not only the prime minister. Secretaries from various ministries have also been arriving at their offices by 9am, with many seen entering the Secretariat as early as 8:30am. A few have arrived just minutes before the start of the working day.
With senior officials setting the tone, lower-ranking officers and staff have also begun adhering more strictly to office hours. Attendance on time is now seen as essential, and most employees are following the prescribed schedule both for arrival and departure.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official at the Ministry of Public Administration said almost all ministry staff were now coming to work on time and leaving after the official closing hour.
“I believe the government’s initiative will strengthen officials’ sense of responsibility and ensure people receive proper services,” the official said.
Previously, some employees would leave minutes before the end of the working day. Now, staff are seen departing only after office hours have concluded, the official added.
The shift is not limited to Dhaka. In Chattogram, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Land) Md Kamruzzaman said district administration staff had been given strict instructions to maintain regular attendance in line with the prime minister’s directive.
The aim, he said, is to reduce public inconvenience and maintain discipline in administrative operations.
He added that similar instructions had been passed down to upazila offices, with monitoring stepped up to ensure punctuality and make public service delivery more efficient and responsive.
