Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said there will be no bandh on Friday even as the state government issued a notification making attendance mandatory in government and government-aided offices.

“Can any bandh be held from 6 am to 12 pm? From now onwards, they (Left Front) will hold the bandh when people go off to sleep.They will be dreaming bandh and this is their future. They have no power at the grassroot level. CPI-M ‘harmads’ have now become BJP experts. I feel ashamed. They have sold themselves to a party of communal politics. So it is wrong to expect anything from them.I am repeating that there will be no bandh. Most markets open after 10 am while officegoers during day-shift would not be troubled. We won’t tolerate such drama.They should hold bandh at midnight as then it will be a 100 per cent success. They had destroyed the state by calling bandhs,” said Miss Banerjee while leaving Nabanna this evening.

Meanwhile, a notification issued by the state finance department on Thursday said that casual leave would not be granted to employees for the absence in either in the first half or second half of the day or the whole day.

“In view of the call given by some political parties for a sixhour bandh from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m., it has been decided that all state government offices shall remain open and all employees shall report for duty on that day. It has also been decided that no casual leave for absence either in the first half of the day or in the second half or for the whole day nor any other leave shall be granted to any employee,” read the notification. It said employees who are on leave on Thursday shall have to report for duty on Friday and no extension of leave shall be allowed.

It has been decided that absence of employees on the date will be treated as ‘dies non’’ and no salary shall be admissible unless such absence is covered by the prescribed grounds.

Some of the grounds under which leave would be granted include hospitalisation of the employee, bereavement in the family, severe illness, absence continuing prior to 12 April and employees who had been on child care leave, maternity leave, medical leave and earned leave that was sanctioned prior to 12 April.

The notification clarified that disruption of traffic will not be accepted as a reason for granting leave. Heads of offices were asked to issue show cause notice to the employees who absent themselves tomorrow asking him/her to explain why action would not be taken against him/her for unauthorised absence.

Those who fail to respond to the notice will be liable to disciplinary action. The course of action has to be completed by 20 April following which the compliance report has to be sent to the finance department, read the notification.

ADG law and order Anuj Sharma said at Nabanna on Thursday that the state government is taking adequate measures to ensure there is no disruption to normal life on Friday.

Mr Sharma said strong police arrangements have been made for on Friday. along with augmenting GRP forces. Necessary measures are being taken in the transport sector as well and special arrangement is also being made in airports and railway stations so that people do not face problem.

About 2,500 police personnel will be on duty on Friday to maintain law and order in the city. Elucidating on the force deployment, Supratim Sarkar, Additional Commissioner of Police (III) said that huge force deployment had been made to maintain normality on Friday.

Mr Sarkar said, as many as 357 pickets will be on the streets from 5 a.m. of which 15 pickets will be deployed at bus depots, 13 at tram depots, 23 at metro stations, 43 pickets at important markets and 82 will remain stationed around office areas. All the DCPs of Kolkata Police will be on the road along with 18 division mobile squads, 25 HRFC, 15 ambulances to maintain security.