By TCN News,
Thiruvananthapuram: The Government will take a well-thought decision on the matter of giving holidays to educational institutions and government offices for Eid, said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. He was replying to a query by M Ummer, MLA of Manjeri, in the Assembly.
Mr Chandy said that there were practical problems in fixing public holidays for Eid. However, holidays are being allowed to educational institutions and restricted holidays to government offices in accordance with the sighting of the moon. This year, educational institutions were given three days’ holidays while government offices were given one day holiday and one day restricted holiday. The government has received several suggestions regarding public holiday, and those suggestions will be considered and a decision be taken. The request that government offices should be given two days’ holidays is also under consideration, the CM added.
Mr Ummer demanded that educational institutions should be given three days and government offices two days as Eid holidays.
The matter of Eid holidays has always been an issue in Kerala, where Muslims constitute around 25% of the population. While Onam and Christmas are given 10 days’ holidays each, the holidays for Eid are generally one or two, and that too fixed just days before Eid. This creates problems for all, especially those who work and study in places distant from their homes. In addition, examinations of different universities and the Kerala Public Service Commission also sometimes fall on the day of or days adjacent to the Eid, which are then suddenly changed to another date, when the Eid holidays are announced. This creates a lot of trouble for not only Muslims but others also. Hence, Muslim organizations have raised the issue of fixing the Eid holidays to at least five days, which the successive governments have not addressed yet. After the present UDF government, with a strong presence of the Muslim League, came into power, Muslim organizations are raising the demand stronger than ever and even the Muslim League has come into the forefront raising the matter.