Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday warned her cabinet colleagues of getting dropped from the cabinet unless they show satisfactory performance within the next couple of months.

"Your honeymoon period is over. You have got enough time to learn about your business and the time has come for you to perform. So work seriously.. ." Hasina told her colleagues at a regular cabinet meeting at the Cabinet Division of the Secretariat

Hasina. also president of Awami League (AL), said she would evaluate the performance of each ministry in the first six months.

"The ministers, who fail to perform, might lose their jobs," Hasina was quoted as saying by a minister.

Sources said the premier was not happy about the performance of many

ministers and the current pace of administrative activities.

"She has directed us to work seriously saying she will evaluate our performance in the first six-months," Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque told The Daily Star after the meeting.

Sources said Hasina will visit each ministry one after another to see

whether the ministers and bureaucrats are working properly. She recently made a surprise visit to the ministries of industries, and power and energy.

Apart from the agriculture, communications, commerce, and food and disaster management ministries, most other ministries have not yet gained pace in their activities since the new government assumed power four months ago.

Hasina, who chaired the meeting, asked the ministers, state ministers and advisers to bring dynamism to the administration and discharge their responsibilities efficiently.

Several ministers told the premier that many bureaucrats appointed by the previous BNP-Jamaat coalition government are not performing their duties properly as they are loyal to BNP and Jamaat.

Hasina asked them to go tough on those bureaucrats and implement the development projects quickly.

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"You must know how many projects are there in your ministries and how many have been implemented. If necessary, put pressure on the officials to implement the projects," the prime minister was quoted as saying by a minister.

Hasina also asked the ministers to import edible oil, sugar and pulses to keep their prices low on the market and prevent the unscrupulous traders from creating any artificial crisis of the essentials.

The prime minister had earlier issued warnings on several occasions to bring pace in the activities of the ministries to fulfil her party's election pledges.

She also sent letters to the secretaries asking them to speed up administrative activities.