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Workers on the production floor of a ready-made garment factory, which will stay open during the Durga Puja holidays.
While the government has announced an extended three-day holiday for the upcoming Sharadiya Durga Puja—shutting government, semi-government, autonomous, and financial institutions—export-oriented ready-made garment (RMG) factories will keep their production floors running as usual.
Leaders from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) confirmed the decision. They noted that while production will proceed, Hindu employees will be granted leave for the festival, which will be adjusted against their casual or earned leave allocations.
The Ministry of Public Administration issued the official holiday circular on October 7. Accounting for public holidays and weekly weekends, the overall state holiday spans five days, from October 20 to October 24. Following the government notification, the Ministry of Labour and Employment issued an advisory circular on October 12 stating that management and worker representatives in private sector industries and establishments must reach mutually agreed decisions regarding general holidays under prevailing labor laws.
BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan and BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem explained that garment factories finalize an annual schedule of 13 festival holidays at the start of each year through bipartite consultations with trade unions or participation committees. This calendar traditionally covers six days across both Eid festivals, May Day, Independence Day, and Victory Day, among others, but typically excludes Durga Puja. As a result, Hindu workers observe the religious festival by utilizing their casual or earned leave.
Meanwhile, the BGMEA issued guidance requesting member factories to disburse festival leave strictly in accordance with statutory labor laws and regulations.
Addressing earlier confusion, the BGMEA president clarified that an internal circular issued on October 8 had granted holidays from October 20 to October 22 exclusively for administrative staff at BGMEA offices in Dhaka and Chattogram. Misinterpretations across sections of the media portrayed this as a three-day shutdown for production floors, prompting the trade body to rescind the planned October 22 holiday to eliminate ambiguity.
Critiquing the prevailing workplace practice, Babul Akhter, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, contended that adjusting Durga Puja leave against casual or earned leave deprives Hindu workers of a genuine festival holiday, running contrary to the spirit of designated religious festival entitlements.
