New Delhi: The Army Headquarters in New Delhi has declared a half day holiday today, till 2.30 pm.

Citing the Union government’s DoP&T circular dated January 18, where “all offices to be closed for half day till 1430 hours on 22 Jan 2024, for celebration of Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha”, a circular has gone out to ensure a “half-day closing” of all Union government offices today.

As The Wire reported yesterday, Union minister Jitendra Singh told news outlets that Union government employees will get half  a day’s leave on January 22 to watch the live telecast. The government has issued an official notification and employees will not need to log in before 2.30 pm. The Left parties have said that this move is unconstitutional.

Full day off in some states

Some Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states have announced that the entire day is to be a holiday, and schools and colleges, along with all government offices, are to remain shut on the day. Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Assam have issued such orders. The administrations of the Union territories of Puducherry and Chandigarh – under direct control of the Union government – have given similar orders. Odisha, under the Biju Janata Dal headed by Naveen Patnaik, has also given a holiday.

Hospital closure backlash forces opening

In a decision that The Wire had calculated will affect 32,000 patients seeking out-patient department appointments in just four of Delhi’s hospitals alone, all Union government-run hospitals issued notifications on January 20 evening saying that these hospitals will be shut till 2.30 pm on January 22 owing to the ‘pran pratishtha‘ ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. However, after backlash, AIIMS has since revoked this decision and said it will remain open.

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