The government on Monday rearranged the office timing from 8:00am to 3:00pm for all the government and autonomous offices and from 9:00am to 4:00pm for all banks in a bid to save electricity amid short supply.

The decision came from the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who joined it through a virtual platform from her official residence Ganobhaban.

Other cabinet members attended the meeting from the conference room of the Cabinet Division in Bangladesh Secretariat.

“The new office timing would be effective from Wednesday next,” said Cabinet Secretariat Khandker Anwarul Islam while briefing reporters after the meeting.

Besides, there would be two weekly holidays in the educational institutions, he said, adding that the education ministry will now issue a circular in this regard.

Read: Govt likely to reduce office hour or introduce virtual office: State Minister

In the meeting, the Cabinet asked the power, energy and mineral resources ministry to ensure the uninterrupted electricity supply in the rural areas from midnight to dawn for the next 10-15 days so that the irrigation is not hampered.

The Cabinet directed the government offices to remove curtains from there to get natural lights as well as to use air coolers as little as possible in order to reduce the use of electricity, said Anwarul Islam.

In the meeting, the governor of Bangladesh Bank declared the new timing for the banks, he said.

The decisions (new office timing and two weekly holidays in educational institutions) will save electricity and ease traffic congestion, said the top bureaucrat.