Govt offices to remain open Oct 17 instead of Oct 22
The government has decided to keep offices open on Saturday, October 17, instead of Thursday, October 22, to extend the Durga Puja holiday to five days.
The decision was approved at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Secretariat on Monday.
A Cabinet Division press release said the cabinet approved a proposal to reschedule the holiday for Sharadiya Durga Puja.
Under the decision, October 20 and 21 will be holidays for Mahanabami and Bijoya Dashami, while October 22 will also be observed as a holiday. In exchange, October 17, a weekly holiday, will be a working day for government offices.
As October 23 and 24 are Friday and Saturday, the weekly holidays, government officials and employees will consequently get five consecutive days off from October 20 to 24.
According to the 2026 government holiday calendar, October 20 was already scheduled as an executive-order holiday for Mahanabami, while October 21 was a general holiday for Bijoya Dashami.
October 22 was originally a working day. The cabinet’s decision will add the day to the Puja holiday period.
The Ministry of Public Administration will issue a gazette notification formalising the rescheduled holidays following the cabinet’s approval.
