Guwahati, Dec. 17: In its latest attempt to push ahead with its administrative reforms programme, the Assam government has reduced the number of regular holidays from 37 to 29 from next year.
The eight deducted holidays have now become restricted ones. The general administrative department issued a notification to this effect recently. With the induction of these eight, the number of restricted holidays has gone up to 32, of which an employee can avail only two.
The industry captains have immediately welcomed the government?s decision saying it would go a long way in bringing the much-needed work culture in government offices.
The Federation of Industries and Commerce of North Eastern Region (Finer), while ?wholeheartedly welcoming? the decision, said there was more scope for reducing holidays. In a representation to chief minister Tarun Gogoi, president of Finer Abhijit Barooah today urged him to restrict the number of holidays from 29 to 15. As per the notification, the New Year will begin for government employees with a working day. Unlike in the past, the employees will not get a holiday on January 1.
The number of holidays is still much more than what the H.N. Das committee on fiscal reforms had suggested. The committee had recommended 15 holidays ? three public holidays and 12 optional ones.
The National Labour Commission, headed by Ravindra Verma, had also suggested that only three should be national holidays, in addition to two more to be determined by each state according to its own tradition. It had also suggested that the number of restricted holidays should not exceed 10.
The holidays exclude Sundays and second and fourth Saturdays, which are mandatory holidays for government employees.
Bank holidays have already been reduced to 15 from the current year under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
The state government had appointed a ministerial panel to ?examine and suggest? the possibility of reducing the number of government holidays to 25.
The members of the committee included Cabinet ministers Bhumidhar Barman, Sarat Barkatoky, G.C. Langthasa, Rameswar Dhanowar and Nurzamal Sarkar.
However, an unfazed Charan Deka, president of the Sadou Assam Karmachari Parishad, told The Telegraph that cutting down on holidays would not improve efficiency in government offices. He said the government would be driven by political compulsions to declare the new res-tricted holidays as regular ones.