Panel favours holiday on 4th Saturday

A Cabinet sub-committee has favoured declaring the fourth Saturday of every month as a government holiday in line with the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

However, the Cabinet deferred a decision on this, when it came up for approval on Monday.

The sub-committee, which also looked into trimming the number of government holidays, has recommended decreasing the number of casual leaves from 15 to 12 per year.

It has recommended cancelling holidays on Mahavir Jayanti, Basava Jayanti, Maharshi Valmiki Jayanti, Kanaka Jayanti, Labour Day, Good Friday, Mahalaya Amavasya and Eid Milad. These should be restricted holidays, the panel has recommended.

For Deepavali, the sub-committee has recommended declaring a holiday on the first and second days of the festival, instead of the first and third days.