At the end government demands duties (5)
I believe the answer is:
tasks
'duties' is the definition.
(task is a kind of duty)
'at the end government demands' is the wordplay.
'at the end' suggests the final letters.
'demands' becomes 'asks' ('ask' can be a synonym of 'demand').
The final letter of 'government' is 't'.
't'+'asks'='TASKS'
(Other definitions for tasks that I've seen before include "'Jobs, undertakings (5)'" , "Jobs to be done" , "Labours" , "Pieces of work" , "Chores, undertakings" .)