Samar of Discontent: Holiday Fervour

As a workforce we enjoy a multitude of national, regional, gazetted, secular and bank holidays. Unsurprisingly, long weekends have become the norm and several man-days are lost due to these frequent short breaks.

Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, legend for its work ethic and professionalism, recognises 27 public holidays annually.

Surprisingly, Delhi has only 20 official public holidays and Kolkata permits 24 days. But then, given the number of bandhs, hartaals and lockouts, this number adds up considerably. Chandigarh, as the capital of both Punjab and Haryana, should arguably enjoy double the number of holidays but allows merely 19 declared holidays.

I, myself, was ensconced in Goa this past holiday weekend and don’t want to sound like a party pooper. A short break helps one to relax and rejuvenate before again plunging into the hurly-burly of urban existence. However, the number of public holidays that we as a society observe is startling and perhaps worrying. Previous governments have shown little interest in restricting the number of holidays, as this would have been viewed as a highly unpopular piece of legislation. But PM Modi, already a legend for his indefatigable work ethic, has advocated working on holidays like Gandhi Jayanti and is known to come down heavily on
officers who shirk work.

My heart goes out to our overworked police force who often find themselves working double shifts, doing bandobast duty even on public holidays. It is heartening to note that Pune Police Commissioner Satish Mathur has demanded a written commitment that his force be adequately compensated for putting in extra hours of work.

While the rest of the nation makes merry, our men and women in khaki should be saluted and, indeed, rewarded for their exemplary commitment to duty.

samarofdiscontent@gmail.com