Amid energy crisis, govt shortens office and shop hours

The government has decided to revise office hours in view of the global energy crisis.

Under the new schedule, offices will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm, instead of the existing 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Besides, all shops, markets and shopping malls will have to close by 6:00pm.

However, hotels, pharmacies, essential service outlets and kitchen markets will remain outside the purview of this restriction.

The decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting held on Thursday night. Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani briefed reporters on the decisions after the meeting.

The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, began at around 8:45pm at the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad complex and continued until about 11:30pm.

Cabinet meetings are usually held at the Secretariat on Thursdays. However, as the current session of Parliament is underway, the meeting was held at the Parliament complex after the day’s sitting.