Services and administrative activities at the Bangladesh Secretariat, the National Board of Revenue headquarters and the Dhaka South City Corporation鈥檚 head office in the capital Dhaka were severely disrupted on Sunday, as officials and political activists continued to hold protests and sit-ins at the key government establishments to press various demands.
The regular activities at the secretariat were seriously hampered as government employees at the country鈥檚 administrative hub continued their demonstration inside it for the second day on Sunday, demanding the cancellation of the draft Government Service (Amendment) Ordinance 2025.
Amid the protests, the interim government on the day promulgated the ordinance after the advisory council on May 22 approved the draft of the ordinance.
Full-day work abstention by the NBR officials and employees for the second consecutive day on Sunday at the revenue board鈥檚 headquarters in the capital鈥檚 Agargaon and at its offices across the country against a new ordinance that split the NBR into two divisions, disrupted overseas trade and revenue-related activities.
Later on the day, the NBR Reform Unity Council, a platform of revenue officers and employees, suspended its work stoppage following assurances from the government of meeting their key demands.
Amid pressure from the employees, the interim government took initiatives to address the demands made by the government employees at the secretariat and the NBR employees to bring normalcy at the two key government administrative hubs in the city.
Supporters of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Ishraque Hossain, also a mayor-elect as per a court order, along with a large group of DSCC employees, resumed their sit-in at 11:00am in front of DSCC鈥檚 Nagar Bhaban on Sunday, demanding handing over mayoral responsibilities to Ishraque.
The protest that began on May 14 with a brief 48-hour pause has brought all city services to a standstill.
Residents have been left without access to essential services such as trade licence renewals, birth and death registration and holding tax payments. All gates of the Nagar Bhaban were found locked on Sunday.
In a separate move, the public administration ministry on Sunday restructured a 10-member committee with the ministry鈥檚 additional secretary and joint secretary (secretariat and welfare) as convener and member secretary respectively to review the demands of the government employees of the secretariat.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of government employees from various ministries and departments at the secretariat staged demonstrations inside the secretariat in protest against the draft of the Government Service (Amendment) Ordinance 2025.
The demonstrators labelled the draft ordinance 鈥榬epressive鈥�, calling for its immediate withdrawal.
They vowed to continue protests until their demands are met.
The protesters alleged that the draft ordinance incorporated repressive clauses from a decades-old special provision, enabling the dismissal of government employees for minor disciplinary breaches without due process. They also alleged that the ordinance violated constitutional rights.
The protesters with procession paraded different roads inside the secretariat. At one point, they gathered in front of the home affairs ministry and warned that they would lock the secretariat gates today if the ordinance was not revoked.
Several leaders of the movement also met with home affairs adviser retried Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury.
Addressing the protesters, Bangladesh Secretariat Officers-Employees Sangjukta Parishad president Md Badiul Kabir announced that their sit-in protest would continue until the new ordnance was withdrawn.
Home adviser retried Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury at his office told reporters that issues regarding the government鈥檚 initiative to amend the Government Service Act, 2018 could be resolved through discussions.
The protesting NBR officials under the banner of NBR Sangskar Oikya Parishad on Sunday announced the withdrawal of their protest programmes following the issuance of a finance ministry鈥檚 press release addressing their key demands.
In a press release, the platform stated that acknowledging the government steps, it had decided to withdraw its strike from today.
However, their demand for the immediate removal of the current NBR chairman remains unmet, it said, adding that their ongoing movement of non-cooperation with the NBR chairman would continue as declared.
On Sunday, the finance ministry issued the press release saying that it would amend the ordinance restructuring the NBR to strengthen the revenue board and separate revenue policy formulation activities by July 31.
The ministry also said that the NBR would be elevated to the status of a separate specialised department under the ministry.
Moreover, the statement clarified that while safeguarding the interests of the BCS (customs and excise) and BCS (tax) cadres, the structure for strengthening the NBR and segregating revenue policy would be finalised through consultations involving the NBR, the Revenue Reform Advisory Committee and other key stakeholders.
The press release also noted that until these amendments were made, the ordinance would not be enforced.
The finance ministry said that the press release they issued on May 22 addressed various demands the NBR Sangskar Oikya Parishad raised regarding the implementation of the Revenue Policy and the Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025.
The platform鈥檚 demands included revoking the ordinance on restructuring the revenue administration, removing the current chairman of the NBR, public disclosure of the advisory committee鈥檚 report on NBR reforms, and inclusive, consultative, and sustainable revenue administration reforms.
With the demands, the NBR officials had been holding different protest programmes in the past few days.
The protests brought the NBR activities at Dhaka office and across the country at a standstill while the container congestions rose at ports. The activities at the custom houses and land ports also came to a halt.
However, the exports and international passenger services were out of the purview of the protests.
Earlier on May 12, the interim government promulgated the ordinance dissolving the revenue board and splitting it into two divisions under the finance ministry to modernise the tax administration and boost revenue collection.
NBR officials have opposed the decision since the advisory council approved the draft ordinance to split the revenue board in April.
