Chennai, October 18 (IANS). The Tamil Nadu government has declared a special holiday on October 21 for all government offices, public sector undertakings, schools and colleges across the state to facilitate smooth travel of citizens returning from their hometowns after celebrating Diwali.
Diwali is on October 20 and the government said the one-day holiday has been declared keeping in mind the welfare of students, teachers, government employees and public sector employees who will be traveling from their native places during the festival.
To compensate for this additional holiday, Saturday, October 25, has been declared a working day for all government institutions and educational establishments.
The step has been taken following repeated appeals by teachers unions for holiday on the next day of Diwali to ensure hassle-free travel of students and staff.
The Tamil Nadu Primary School Teachers Association (TNPSTA) had urged the government to consider the problems teachers and students face in traveling long distances to their native districts.
TNPSTA state president C. Arasu said, “For Diwali, teachers, students and education department officials will go to their hometowns over the weekend and return the next day. The transport network is expected to be extremely busy.”
He further said that it has been a long standing tradition of giving leave on the next day of major festivals for people to return at their convenience.
“In view of the rush, declaring October 21 as a holiday will help in reducing the crowd. This can be compensated by working on Saturday,” the association’s statement said.
According to government sources, the decision was taken after reviewing requests from various departments and education bodies as well as feedback received from transport and district officials.
The purpose of this special holiday is to ensure the safety and convenience of millions of people traveling in Tamil Nadu during the festive season.
With this announcement, schools and colleges will now celebrate two days of Diwali holiday and normal work will start from October 22.
–IANS
AKS/DSC