State government employees of Bengal can get 16 days Puja holidays next year

State government employees of Bengal are a really privileged lot - it appears they may be able to enjoy up to 16 days of continuous Puja holidays next year. This is based on the list of holiday that have been notified by the authorities.
The number of such holidays that have been declared for 2017 is 31 days which is two more than the current year.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 3 November 2016.

It has been officially announced that the Puja holidays will be from September 27 (Saptami) to September 30 (Dashami). Subsequently, October 1 is a Sunday and October 2 is Gandhi Jayanti - a national hoilday. Three additional holidays "in connection with Durga Puja" have also been announced - these are on September 26 (Sashthi) and October 3 and 4. Then comes Lakshmi Puja on October 5 and the next day has been declared a holiday followed by the weekend on October 7 and 8. Thus, the number of holidays add up to 13.
Interestingly, since September 25 is a Monday, there are possibilities that chief minister Mamata Banerjee would declare it as a holiday. Even if that does not happen, an employee can take an off which would mean 16 days of continuous holidays from September 23 (Saturday).
One may well wonder that when the state is tying to invite industries, such a long holiday period may not appeal to investors because, with so many holidays, the total administrative apparatus is likely to collapse.
On the flip side - people can begin plans well in advance to take off on a long holiday to some exotic destination.

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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