UP DECLARES HOLIDAY ON RAVIDAS ANNIV

LUCKNOW: The state government on Sunday declared a public holiday on social reformer Sant Ravidas’s birth anniversary as well as Magh Purnima on February 19, principal secretary, general administration, Jitendra Kumar said in a press release here. Revered by people across the state, Sant Ravidas has a large following among Dalits. A BJP leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was likely to visit Sant Ravidas’s birthplace at Seergovardhan in Varanasi on February 19. Sant Ravidas Jayanti was earlier a restricted holiday, but it had been declared a gazetted holiday now under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the principal secretary said.

LUCKNOW :The state government on Sunday declared a public holiday on social reformer Sant Ravidas’s birth anniversary as well as Magh Purnima on February 19, principal secretary, general administration, Jitendra Kumar said in a press release here.

Revered by people across the state, Sant Ravidas has a large following among Dalits. A Bharatiya Janata Party leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was likely to visit Sant Ravidas’s birthplace at Seergovardhan in Varanasi on February 19.

Sant Ravidas Jayanti was earlier a restricted holiday, but it had been declared a gazetted holiday now under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the principal secretary said in the press release.

The state government had also decided to declare a holiday on the occasion of Magh Purnima, an auspicious bathing date during the Kumbh Mela, he said.

After coming to power in March 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party government had cancelled 15 holidays on the birth and death anniversaries of eminent people, including former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, warrior king Maharana Pratap, Parshuram Jayanti and religious events like Chath Puja and Jamat-ul-Vida.

The state government had announced 31 restricted holidays, out of which its employees can avail merely two.