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IMC asks govt to slash holidays

Alarmed by the large number of holidays, which adversely affect the country's gross domestic product and international competitiveness, the Indian Merchants' Chamber has urged the Maharashtra government to reduce the number of holidays in a phased manner.

In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in Bombay on Friday, Arvind Jolly, IMC president, pointed out that since the current financial year began, there have been seven holidays, plus a bandh.

Also, people regard April and may as 'vacation time' causing a general slowdown in industrial production and productivity, he said.

This season is followed by the monsoons which cause frequent floods, railway and road disruptions and seasonal illnesses, and other problem for unscheduled holidays and unproductive workdays.

After monsoons comes the 'festival season' -- Gokulashtami, Ganesh puja, Navaratri and Diwali. These are celebrated for periods ranging from a single day and to a fortnight.

Not only do the participants in these festivals stay away from their workplaces, they also obstruct others from working normally by taking out processions and holding up traffic, he added.

"To make matters worse, festivals celebrated by only the followers of a single religion or a community are sanctioned as state holidays, instead of sectional holidays because of the secular pretensions of our political parties. Only national holidays should be state holidays," he said.

Jolly said that this populist 'holiday culture' cost the people and the exchequer dearly by reducing production.

"The state has 24 bank holidays, which become roadblocks to business, especially when they occur before or after weekends," he pointed out.

The worst hit by these holidays are poor, working in the unorganised sector, such as casual labourers, hawkers and small traders, coolies, taxi and rickshaw drivers and others.

Holidays really hit these people financially and do not increase the politicians ' vote banks.

"The Indian Merchants' Chamber thinks that we should change this holiday culture into a working culture. Maharashtra should provide leadership to this country in this respect. You can make a beginning by reducing a couple of holidays every year. Though this may me met by some initial resistance from interest groups, it would be a positive measure in the long run," Jolly said.

UNI

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