In view of the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Uttarakhand government has declared a holiday of half day on Monday, January 22. However the educational institutes will remain closed on the day. The government invoked the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act to declare a holiday of half day in the government treasury and banks on the day. The government offices, institutes, industrial establishments will remain closed in the first half and will start functioning after 2.30 PM on January 22. The order was issued by secretary, general administration, Deependra Kumar Chaudhary. The Union government has also declared a holiday of half day in all its offices in the country on January 22 so that the employees can witness the consecration ceremony of Ram temple and perform prayers and other rituals on the historic day.
However, the decision of a half day holiday on January 22 has not gone down well with the State government employees. The employees were hoping the Uttarakhand government will follow the footsteps of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh in declaring a full day on January 22. The employee organisations point out that as per the order the employees will attend office after witnessing consecration ceremony of Lord Ram in Ayodhya and performing prayers in the temples which is impractical.
