Kathmandu, April 1

The Ministry of Home Affairs has fixed the number of public holidays other than Saturdays for the year 2073 BS (beginning mid-April 2016).

According to a notice published by MoHA, there will be 52 public holidays in addition to Saturdays. Of them, eight public holidays fall on Saturdays. Public holidays will only be applicable to government offices from Baisakh 1 (April 13, 2016) to Chaitra 30 (April 13, 2017).Festive holidays top the chart with 15 days. Three public holidays (Teej, Rishi Panchami and Jitiya) are for women employees only, one (Basanta Panchami) is for educational institutions only whereas four holidays (Gai Jatra, Indra Jatra, Matsyendranath Festival and Ghode Jatra) are meant for the Kathmandu Valley only.

Two holidays (Siruwa Pawani and Dhawathambu Chheuchika) will be applicable only in districts where such festivals are observed at the local level.

MoHA has fixed seven-day holiday for Dashain and three days for Tihar. In addition, there will be a total of eight days’ holiday for important national and international dates such as International Workers’ Day, Republic Day, Civil Service Day (for civil servants only), Constitution Day, International Day of People with Disability (only for civil servants with disabilities), Martyrs’ Day, National Democracy Day and International Women’s Day.

As per the ministry, there will be six birth anniversary holidays —  Ram Navami, Mahavir Jayanti, Buddha Jayanti, Shree Krishna Janmasthami, Falgunananda Jayanti and Guru Nanak Jayanti (only for Sikh civil servants). Employees associated with emergency and essential services such as hospitals, ropeways, police, immigration, prisons, fire brigades, Radio Nepal, Nepal Television, press, postal offices and telecommunications, may take leave in lieu as they are required to provide services even during public holidays.