The biggest religious festival of Hindus, Durga Puja, is approaching in the autumn, and the government has extended the holidays for government employees. With the holiday declared by an executive order on October 22, people across the country will get a total of five days off for this year’s Durga Puja. Students are also receiving extended breaks, with many getting 10 consecutive days or more depending on their institution.
According to the Ministry of Education’s academic calendar and a separate notification from the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, the holiday period varies by type of educational institution. For secondary and lower secondary schools, the Ministry of Education’s calendar provides five days of government holidays from October 18 to 22. Since there are Fridays and Saturdays before and after this period—October 16–17 and October 23–24—and the Lakshmi Puja holiday on October 25, Sunday, is added, teachers and students get a total of 10 days of holidays from October 16 to 25. For colleges and the higher secondary level, the notification from the Maushi College Branch schedules a total of 10 days of vacation from October 18 to October 29. If the two preceding and following weekly vacations, October 16–17 and October 30–31, are taken into account, the vacation period in colleges will be 16 days. For madrasas, according to the list of the Directorate of Madrasa Education, there will be a total of three days of holidays in Ebtedayi and MPO-affiliated madrasas from October 20 to October 22. Universities are autonomous institutions, so they will determine their holiday schedule according to their own academic calendar.
In addition to the October 22 executive order holiday, there are extra leave opportunities for government officials and employees of traditional religions. They can take two additional days of optional leave on the occasion of Mahasaptami on October 18, Sunday, and Mahashtami on October 19, Monday. After the official and optional holidays from October 18 to 22, if the weekly holidays on October 23 and 24, Friday and Saturday, are added, employees of traditional religions will be able to enjoy a total of seven consecutive days of leave from October 18 to 24. This gives them a longer continuous break than the standard five-day government holiday period.
However, not everyone will get the same time off. All banks and financial institutions in the country will be closed on the designated public holidays for Durga Puja. However, ATMs, online banking and card services will remain operational for the convenience of customers. Workers involved in emergency services such as hospitals, police, fire service, electricity, gas, water supply and media will not be covered by the general holiday. They will have to perform their duties in the public interest. As a result, while many government employees, students and others will enjoy an extended break, those in essential services will remain on duty to ensure that normal life and emergency response continue without interruption. The combination of government holidays, weekly holidays, optional leave and Lakshmi Puja means that different groups will experience different lengths of time off, with students in schools and colleges getting some of the longest breaks and emergency service workers getting no holiday at all.
