Work for Gandhi on a holiday
: BJP
Sandesh Prabhudesai
24 September 2002
A unique controversy over Gandhi Jayanti holiday has erupted in the
Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Goa, forcing government
employees to attend office on a public holiday.
Retreating on its previous stand, the government has withdrawn its
earlier circular that had cancelled 2 October from its
holiday list. But the new circular, which restores it
as a holiday, follows yet another circular, to attend
the offices for two hours.
Terming it as ‘clean offices’ day, chief secretary Baleshwar Rai has
said it is mandatory for all the employees to attend
the office from 10 am to 12 noon and clean up the workplace,
following principles of Mahatma Gandhi.
The whole controversy had erupted in November last year
when chief minister Manohar Parrikar suddenly cancelled
Gandhi Jayanti and Goa Statehood Day (30 May) as holidays,
in order to reduce the number of holidays.
Parrikar, a staunch RSS swayamsevak, had however dismissed the allegation
that the action reflects the Sangh Parivar’s permanent
hatred towards Bapuji. “Gandhi believed in work and
I want to begin the work culture on his birthday”, he
had said.
However, as he realised that Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday under
the Negotiable Instruments Act, he had to withdraw the
unilateral circular and restore the public holiday.
However, the adamant chief minister has now gone ahead by issuing yet
another notification, which instructs all the employees
to attend the office for two hours and clean up the
office premises.
“We appreciate the noble and creative idea of cleanliness, but why
to choose the Gandhi Jayanti”, asks AITUC leader Christopher
Fonseca, who leads several government employee unions.
It is totally illegal to force anybody to attend the
office on a holiday, he adds.
Shantaram Naik, the Congress leader, has in fact condemned the government
action to make it mandatory. “At the most, it could
be voluntary”, he says. Earlier, Naik had appealed to
the workers to go on a mass casual leave, assuring them
to pay one-day salary once the Congress comes to power.
The government employees here have however decided to demand compensation
for two hours, if they attend the office on 2 October.
“They cannot force us, but we can definitely demand
pay for extra work on a holiday”, states Ajit Talaulikar,
president of the government employees association.
He also dubs it purely as a political controversy, with no politician
of any party having any regard for the Mahatma. “Gandhiji
practiced what he preached, unlike these hypocrite politicians”,
he alleges, stating that the employees are simply dragged
into a political controversy.
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