Public Servants Vow to Maintain Protest Until Ordinance Is Fully Revoked

Government employees on Wednesday, June 18, warned of fresh protests on Thursday if the authorities fail to take steps to repeal the recently enacted Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025. Leaders of the movement said that the demonstrations will continue until the ordinance is completely revoked. Nurul Islam, co-chairman of the Secretariat Officers and Employees Unity Forum, said, “We have already planned conventions in all eight divisions. Senior government officials have betrayed our trust in the name of dialogue. We demand a 50 percent dearness allowance. Those bureaucrats supporting this fascist ordinance must be removed.” Forum president Badiul Kabir echoed the demand, affirming that the protest would persist until the ordinance is scrapped in its entirety. Protesters staged demonstrations in front of Building No. 6 of the Secretariat on Wednesday, reiterating their opposition to the ordinance.

Nazrul Islam, another leader of the movement, said, “We are disciplined government workers. But if the ordinance is not withdrawn, we will launch a larger movement on Sunday.” The government promulgated the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 on May 25, introducing a provision that allows the termination of public servants—without departmental proceedings—in four specific disciplinary cases, requiring only a show-cause notice. The draft of the ordinance was approved during the Advisory Council meeting on May 22. Since May 24, all unions representing government officers and staff at the Secretariat have been staging joint protests, calling for the repeal of what they describe as a “repressive and undemocratic ordinance.”