Govt orders officials to be present in offices from 9am

The Cabinet Division has issued a circular mandating that all government officials and employees must be present in their offices daily between 9:00 and 9:40am.

The directive, signed by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani on Monday (March 1), aims to ensure timely public service and improve administrative efficiency.

The circular noted that officials are often delayed due to official or personal commitments en route to work, such as attending seminars, workshops, symposiums, training sessions, or visiting banks, hospitals, and schools.

To address this, all employees of government, semi-government, autonomous, and semi-autonomous organisations must remain in their designated offices during the specified window.

Administrative activities should be scheduled so as not to interfere with this mandatory period.

The instruction aligns with the Government Employee (Attendance) Rules, 2019 and the Secretariat Instructions, 2024, which require officials to observe prescribed office hours.

Exemptions to this rule include teachers and faculty members in educational or training institutions who do not have administrative responsibilities, personnel on roster duty in hospitals, prisons, media organizations, or security-related institutions, as well as law enforcement and field staff who are directly involved in emergency response or essential customer services.

The circular further specifies that employees cannot leave their workplace without authorisation except for: Providing VIP or VVIP protocol services; Responding to emergencies or major accident; Attending critical meetings with development partners or diplomatic missions; Approved government travel.

The circular emphasises that non-essential departures during office hours are prohibited and the directive takes immediate effect.