Shimla, Nov 10: The Himachal Pradesh Government has declared November 11 a public holiday across the state to mark the festival of Bhai Dooj. Under the new notification, all government offices, boards, corporations, and educational institutions will remain closed.
Previously, only women employees in the state were granted leave on Bhai Dooj. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expanded the benefit to all employees, continuing a recent pattern of converting restricted festive leaves into full public holidays.
The decision follows similar statewide holiday declarations for Raksha Bandhan and Karwa Chauth earlier this year. Explaining his rationale during the Raksha Bandhan announcement, the Chief Minister remarked that providing leave solely to women defeated the purpose of the festival if their brothers were away at work, emphasizing that families should be able to celebrate such traditions together at home.
