Chennai, Nov 1 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu government has declared November 9, the day after Diwali, a holiday for government offices, public sector undertakings and educational institutions across the state to facilitate the return of people travelling to their hometowns for the festival.
Diwali falls on Sunday (November 8) this year. The additional holiday on Monday will give students, parents, teachers and government employees more time to return after celebrating with their families.
According to the government order, the holiday will cover all government offices, public sector undertakings, schools, colleges and other educational institutions throughout Tamil Nadu.
November 28 has been designated a working day to compensate for the additional holiday. The decision allows those covered by the order to plan their return journeys for Monday instead of having to travel immediately after the celebrations on Sunday.
For families travelling together, it also aligns the holiday arrangements of government employees and students. The compensatory working day falls on a Saturday. Offices and institutions covered by the announcement will therefore observe the revised schedule, with a holiday on November 9 and work resuming on the designated compensatory date later in the month.
Meanwhile, Chennai’s Koyambedu vegetable market will remain closed for one day on November 9, following a separate decision taken by traders’ associations ahead of the festival.
The closure was unanimously approved at a consultative meeting chaired by G.T. Rajasekaran, president of the Integrated Federation of Market Associations. Participants decided that all vegetable shops would remain open until Diwali, enabling customers and traders to complete their purchases before the holiday. The association said the market would resume its normal operations on Tuesday (November 10).
The announced closure is limited to the vegetable market for the day after Diwali. Members of the public and traders have been asked to plan their essential purchases in advance, taking into account the Monday closure. Those depending on the market for vegetable supplies should make the necessary arrangements before the festival-day trading ends.
The two announcements set out the post-festival schedule for government establishments, educational institutions and the vegetable market.
While the state government’s holiday is intended to ease return travel after Diwali celebrations, the traders’ decision provides for a one-day break before regular vegetable trading resumes on Tuesday, allowing buyers to organise their purchases around the announced closure.
–IANS
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