Independence Day and Republic Day are not national festivals
16 Aug, 2012An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act asking the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking the official documents declaring Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August) and Gandhi Jayanti as national festivals. The PMO forwarded the application to the Ministry of Home Affairs which has informed that no such order has ever been issued.
When a second appeal was made claiming that there might been some mistake in the information provided under the Right to Information (RTI) Act as the text books state Republic Day, Independence Day and October 2 as national holidays. The second appeal was forwarded to Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) which forwarded it to the National Archives. The National Archives could find some related files but no government orders.
The applicant has now approached the Prime Minister and the President requesting them to issue a formal order declaring these days as national holidays.