<i>Offices still in Eid mood</i>
Employees at government, semi-government and private offices were busy exchanging Eid greetings and pleasantries with colleagues yesterday after the three-day Eid holiday and weekend. The photo was taken from Shikkha Bhaban in the city. Photo: Focus Bangla
Government, semi-government and private offices including banks and financial institutions opened yesterday with a very low turnout of staffs after the three-day Eid holiday and weekend. Attendance at the Secretariat, the administrative hub of the country, was also very thin as more than half of the officers and employees did not turn up. Many ministers were also absent. “About 30 to 40 percent of the staff joined offices today (Sunday),” said an employee at the home ministry, adding that many of them were latecomers. More staffs are expected to return to their desks today, he said, but it would take a few days before office activities returns to normal. According to Fakhrul Islam, chief engineer of Department of Shipping, almost all employees of the department returned to office yesterday but “working speed was very slow”. “Some 30 percent of a regular day's work was done today (Sunday) due to the absence of key employees in other government offices,” Fakhrul said. Work progressed slowly as almost all officials and employees were seen exchanging Eid greetings and pleasantries with colleagues. Similar scenes were seen in most private offices with attendance very thin as many employees were enjoying extended holidays. “Around 65 percent of the staff joined today, but there was little office activity,” said Sarkar Dipu, an employee of Rangs Group of Companies. Most came late but left early, spending their stay at the office with pleasantries, he said. Meanwhile, most city stores remained closed while streets were free from traffic yesterday save a few incidents of congestions in some major intersections. However, the situation in the city's train, launch and bus terminals were different. Almost all terminals were crowded with incoming passengers with each passenger carrier arriving with hundreds of people returning to the city from their village homes. Every bus seat was taken, the launches were crowded and all trains arrived with seemingly hundreds of passengers on the roofs. Over 60,000 people arrived in the city through Sadarghat launch terminal yesterday. At least another 70,000 arrived at the Mohakhali bus terminals and some 28,000 at the Kamalapur Railway Station, sources said. The official three-day-holiday of Eid-ul-Fitr ended on Friday, followed by a public holiday on Saturday. Meanwhile, normal office schedule (from 9:00am to 5:00pm) resumed yesterday after it was curtailed for the month of Ramadan.
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