Public Holidays in India - Issues With Large Number of Holidays

Issues With Large Number of Holidays

While having so many Government Holidays keep in line with the idea of peaceful co-existence of all religions, there have been demands from various public bodies that the system of a multitude of religious holidays is hampering economic activities to a great extent. The past two Central Govt. Pay Commissions have recommended the abolition of all Central Govt. Holidays on religious festivals, and instead, substitute with three national Holidays, i.e., Independence Day (15 August), Republic Day (26 January) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October).

It was also recommended to increase the amount of existing Restricted Holidays (Optional Holidays) depending on one's religious persuasion from existing two to eight. The rationale being, 8 holidays can more than cater for the festivals of any particular religion. So there is no point in having more than these many number of holidays, since religion does not warrant a Hindu to celebrate Id or a Muslim to celebrate Diwali.

With the proposed system, however, it was left to the individual to choose which 8 Holidays to celebrate, irrespective of his religious belief. However, this recommendation has not been accepted by the Govt. of India, fearing a loss of popularity, and thus Indian Govt. continues with an unusually large number of religious holidays as compared to most other countries.