Dhaka, September 10, 2026: Prime Minister Tareq Rahman has begun implementing the government’s decision to drop honorific prefixes from official documents and correspondence from his own office. At the same time, he has started marking digital attendance like other government officials and employees.

The Prime Minister marked digital attendance before entering his office at the Secretariat on Thursday morning, according to a senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office. The information was also reported by state own news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. 

The move came a day after the Cabinet Division issued a circular instructing government offices not to use honorific terms such as ‘Honourable’ or other similar expressions before the titles of the President, Prime Minister, ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers in official correspondence, documents and summaries.

The implementation process began at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, with official files and documents instructed to use ‘Prime Minister’ rather than ‘Honourable Prime Minister’.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Md Sakhawat Hossain told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha that the circular had already been circulated among secretaries of ministries, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers, with implementation beginning Thursday.

Joint Secretary of the Cabinet Division’s District Magistracy Branch Tanvir Ahmed also said the circular had reached field-level administration. He said its implementation had already been observed in some official correspondence and warned that deviations could lead to action.

Beyond the removal of honorifics, the Prime Minister’s digital attendance carries a broader administrative significance. By following the same attendance procedure as government officials and employees, the country’s top executive is sending a direct signal that institutional rules are expected to apply at the highest level as well.

Officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Division view the move as part of an effort to strengthen punctuality, discipline and accountability across the public administration.

The government has also highlighted several other initiatives aimed at reducing personality-driven practices and unnecessary protocol surrounding the Prime Minister. These include limiting the use of his photograph in government activities and publicity, reducing the number of vehicles in the Prime Minister’s protocol convoy and avoiding traffic signal closures for ordinary citizens during his movements.

Taken together, the removal of honorifics and the introduction of digital attendance present a broader administrative message: official responsibility, institutional rules, public service and accountability should take precedence over ceremonial privileges and excessive protocol.

//DBTech/ BSS/SME/MIST//