News Desk : dhakamirror.com
The government has declared 18 March a public holiday in addition to the previously announced Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, making it a week-long vacation.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Thursday at the secretariat with prime minister Tarique Rahman in the chair.
Briefing reporters afterwards, cabinet secretary Nasimul Ghani said that the extended vacation had been arranged to allow citizens to travel smoothly to their ancestral homes and hometowns and resume work on time.
He said that March 17 would coincide with the observance of Shab-e-Qadr, effectively making the holiday period run from March 17 to 23.
The potential date of Eid-ul-Fitr, dependent on moon sighting, is March 21.
The public administration ministry had earlier fixed a five-day holiday from March 19 to 23 on the occasion of the festival.
During the meeting, the cabinet also reviewed the draft of the president’s address for the first Jatiya Sangsad session that is scheduled to begin on March 12.
The address, to be delivered at the opening of the session, was examined in detail and structured as an annual report outlining the government’s activities and policy directions, the cabinet secretary explained.
Information minister Zahir Uddin Swapon said that the cabinet had made all necessary preparations ahead of the first parliament session.
He said that the president’s address was expected to highlight several government initiatives, including the family card, farmer card, and agricultural loan programmes.
