[dailydriver]

As I am typing this sitting at home when I should actually be present at my workplace honestly earning my keep, I am (not for the first time) intrigued by the number of holidays a government servant (?) is entitled to, in a year.

The sad demise of a union minister has necessitated the declaration of statewide holiday in Karnataka. As much as we admire the yeoman service our leaders have rendered to the society and the nation, I have always felt that declaring holiday as a mark of respect for them is actually counterintuitive on one hand and a dilution of the much vaunted principles that they have worked for throughout their life, on the other.

Not only are public holidays declared on the death of our beloved leaders, we are also free from going to work on the Jayanthi of a number of other leaders - mythical, historical, social, religious and political. Add to this 15 Casual Leaves, 20 Half Pay Leaves and 30 Earned Leaves that a sarkari naukar is eligible to avail: plus 12 second Saturdays, a few national holidays and at least half a dozen festival related ones: and we won't still foolishly wonder why Government agencies have an affinity for the tortoise with relation to speed of execution of projects or movement of files.

While I fully respect the leaders and their leadership, I sincerly believe that a better tribute for them would be to work harder and try to fructify their altruistic, humanist dreams. That, I think, would add real meaning to the expression RIP.

[Dry Ice]

I don't have a problem so to say with the number of leaves. The trouble is when government officials behave like being on a holiday when in office.

And not all is well even with the private sector. These days most tech companies seem to be focused on controlling the WFH privilege. As per them while some may actually work, majority of folks use it as a leave! Don't have the link handy but I think Yahoo has completely done away with this practice.

That makes me wonder, if it's more to do with our collective psyche than the sector we work in.

[ajmat]

In the UK, even if the Queen dies ( I have never seen that) or the former Prime Minister, passes away, there is no holiday. Instead, you put on a black arm band and carry on to work.

Companies might look the other way if you feel strongly and wish to attend the Lying in State or the actual State Funeral (normally held on a Friday or the weekend). In the case of the Prime Ministers, it might be entirely private and a memorial service is held later.

What really gets my goat is the arbid declaration of holidays. I was walking in the Club and saw the pointless traffic jam as kids were being dropped off for school only for another jam to collect them again.

Think of the working parents who will need to disrupt the schedule to fetch them again.

As for Working from home - Intel quielty stopped the entitlement since it ended with a lot of invisible peopleworking in their Log Cabin around Lake Tahoe instead of in office. The directive was people need to be around to collaborate. WFH is allowed when caring for the sick, you have something contagious, car broke down, weather conditions, need to get somewhere fast without having to shorten your workday by leaving early. all based on manager discretion.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ajmat

WFH is allowed when caring for the sick, you have something contagious, car broke down, weather conditions, need to get somewhere fast without having to shorten your workday by leaving early. all based on manager discretion.

...and more importantly it depends on what role you are performing in your organization and whether and how collaboration happens with or without your presence due to the entire team working onshore.

I wouldn't go into specifics as its OT but since you brought this topic, I had my say. And yes, I was headed to work today (usually drive twice a week now) but the moment I entered the school to drop my daughter, they asked me to wait for 5 minutes till they had an official communication and the moment they did, I had to drive back home and then my window of driving under minimal traffic would have passed. So ended up working from home today.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

I am (not for the first time) intrigued by the number of holidays a government servant (?) is entitled to, in a year.

Entitled yes, maybe more than the average corporate guy for sure, but any person working even in a slightly higher level at any govt. office has practically very less free time (~leaves, holidays, half days, etc). My opinion might be biased because of seeing people I know in the Police dept, IAS level officers and senior Central govt. administrative employees. According to most of them, there is just too much work to be done. Most are frequently found in office after official work hours, on official holidays or had to cut short their leave for some unexpected work coming up.

Unfortunately can't share more on a public forum.

...and we won't still foolishly wonder why Government agencies have an affinity for the tortoise with relation to speed of execution of projects or movement of files.

I think our experience is based on dealing with MTNL / BSNL chaps, local Municipal bodies, electric board etc. and I feel they should not be considered government (as the thread title suggests). But I agree, changing my broadband plan of MTNL took me well over 6 months. The thought of disconnecting it was so dreadful that I have the cheapest plan just to avoid the trouble / process of getting rid of it.

While I fully respect the leaders and their leadership, I sincerly believe that a better tribute for them would be to work harder and try to fructify their altruistic, humanist dreams. That, I think, would add real meaning to the expression RIP.

I agree. But most of these holidays are declared as a precautionary measure to avoid law and order situations. Less people on the roads = less crowds. Though this varies incase people have already left their homes for work.

Originally Posted by ajmat

What really gets my goat is the arbid declaration of holidays. I was walking in the Club and saw the pointless traffic jam as kids were being dropped off for school only for another jam to collect them again. Think of the working parents who will need to disrupt the schedule to fetch them again.

I agree with this point. I have reached school somedays and a holiday was declared. Fortunately I could take a bus/auto home. This may not be possible for all.

As for Working from home - Intel quielty stopped the entitlement since it ended with a lot of invisible peopleworking in their Log Cabin around Lake Tahoe instead of in office. The directive was people need to be around to collaborate.

I agree, but having a blanket ban affect the people who actually work from home quite hard. Thanks to working from home, I mange to save a minimum of 6 hours in just 2 days every week. Not only do I get more work done on such days, I still have energy left to spend time with friends / family.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

any person working even in a slightly higher level at any govt. office has practically very less free time... My opinion might be biased because of seeing people I know in the Police dept, IAS level officers and senior Central govt. administrative employees.

Police and emergency services are of course different and it would be wrong to group them in the same bracket as other government servants. But as far as the rest are concerned - the steel frame included - lack of free time or leaves is:

1. Just an excuse for lethargy and improper planning.

2. Born out of fear of losing the post to others waiting in the wings.

I have had an opportunity to work at the highest levels of the Government and have seen how inefficiently the system runs. Although it wouldn't be prudent to reveal the exact nature of work, suffice it to say that I could complete my entire quota of a day's files in just two hours. My colleague's table would however be doubly bent with the weight of the pending files, some of which were months old. Lest it be misconstrued as an attempt at blowing my own trumpet, let me clarify that there were scores of other copies both of me and my aforementioned colleague in the same building.

Regarding point #2, I was at first baffled by senior officers' reluctance to go on leave even when they were unwell. Gradually, it dawned on me that a leave of absence, however short or important, would just be an invitation to their peers to usurp the throne! They had clearly got their history lessons right.

According to most of them, there is just too much work to be done. Most are frequently found in office after official work hours, on official holidays or had to cut short their leave for some unexpected work coming

Again, I concur on the unexpected work coming part. But as for habitating the office space even after 6PM, the reasons are manifold and multifaceted, but as you said:

can't share more on a public forum

BSNL chaps, local Municipal bodies, electric board etc.... should not be considered government

A point I will have to disagree with.

For a common man, Government is the corporation office at the end of a busy street in his locality and not necessarily the Mantralaya. The mandal panchayat, the taluk office, the ration shop, the PHC, the sub registrar's chamber, the RTO are some places that represent the Government to the common man. If in their infinite wisdom, the babus decide to down the shutters at the drop of a hat, where shall the average Joe go to, to meet his needs?

But most of these holidays are declared as a precautionary measure to avoid law and order situations

My experience tells me otherwise. These holidays are intended less as precautionary measures and more as tools of appeasement.

Less people on the roads = less crowds

Doesn't it make sense to keep the people tied up to their work rather than allowing them the freedom to converge on the streets and possibly create mayhem?

Before I go further off tangent, let me clarify that though the immediate trigger for this thread was today's holiday declaration, I genuinely feel that the list of potential working days printed in red on a calendar are far too many. I have been serving the Government in various capacities for nearly a decade and a half, and in all these years, I have always felt that I have received at least a month's salary/year extra - because of irrelevant and often useless off days.

[Miyata]

I totally agree with your premise - we could do well with a lot less govt. holidays. Except perhaps 1 or 2, most of the birth and death anniversaries could be observed in reverential yet officially working ways!

Personally, I begin to get restless if there's more than two consecutive days off. If I am on a vacation, my laptop always accompanies me and I manage to get good amounts of work done as well.

We certainly need to push for more efficient and better productive time.

I think the WFH option is quite a useful one - I use it about once a week and on very rare occasions two times a week. As long as there's accountability, and the work gets done, all's well.

I guess all govt. offices are different, my dad is a senior scientist with ISRO. From the feedback I've gathered from his circle of friends and colleagues, most days they seemingly don't have much. But there's about 3-5 weeks a year when they pretty much sleep in the office itself. And if a launch is successful, there is all kinds of celebrations and gifts flowing in. It goes unsaid, we don't talk about the launch failures!

[GTO]

Mod Note: Just a polite reminder of our forum rules that don't permit any discussion on politics or politicians. Thanks!

[dailydriver]

Available at the official website of the Government, here is the list of holidays in Karnataka for the year 2019.

Main points:

• There are 21 holidays for Government institutions.
• Banks in Karnataka get 22 holidays; the annual account closing day (1st April 2019) being an extra addition.
• The list excludes four special occasions/festivals that fall on Sundays. Add them and the number of official off days increases to 25/26.
• There are 19 days on which a Government servant can avail his quota of (two per person, per year ) Restricted Holidays.

Time to plan some outstation trips!

PS: Please download the enclosed PDF for the original (full) notification.

[fordday]

For the sake of comparison, I did a simple calculation.

Our company (MNC) gives 10 days of holidays and every saturday off (as in regular MNCs). That gives us 58 days leave (48 saturdays + 10 vacations).

The Karnataka circular mentions 21 days of vacation. Lets include those 4 days too, mentioned as falling on sunday's, this year. That makes it 25 days. Add 12 second Saturdays. So govt total comes to 37.

Not commenting either way because there are many other variables included. But this seems to bust our belief that babus enjoy much more hoildays.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by fordday

(MNC) gives... us 58 days leave... The Karnataka... govt total comes to 37.

25 pukka holidays+12 second Saturdays+15 casual leaves+30 earned leaves+10 commuted leaves (also known as 20 half pay leaves)+2 restricted holidays=94 days; ONLY!

OR

3 full months out of the total 12; ONLY!!

OR

25.75% of the total 365 days; ONLY!!!

But this seems to bust our belief that babus enjoy much more hoildays.

Originally Posted by fordday

We too get 20 days earned leave and 10 days Casual leave. That makes ours 58+20+10=88.
Not very far behind

Agreed.

[fordday]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

25 pukka holidays+12 second Saturdays+15 casual leaves+30 earned leaves+10 commuted leaves (also known as 20 half pay leaves)+2 restricted holidays=94 days;

We too get 20 days earned leave and 10 days Casual leave. That makes ours 58+20+10=88.
Not very far behind

[dailydriver]

Was driven back into this thread because of a similar one started today (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post4705674 (How many leaves / holidays do you take in a year?)).

Here is the list of Government of Karnataka notified holidays for the year 2020.



For the complete list of holidays including Restricted Holidays and those declared under the Negotiable Instruments Act, please click on the below PDF.