- The Cabinet Division publishes a list of optional public holidays.
- Holidays will be subject to the appearance of the moon.
- The government official will need prior permission for optional vacations.
The federal government on Monday notified the schedule of public and optional holidays for calendar year 2025 on days of national importance, festivals of Muslims and minorities.
As 2024 draws to a close, the Cabinet Division has issued a notification containing the full list of holidays to be observed next year.
For Muslim festivals, it said, the dates of the holidays will be based on advance dates and will be subject to the appearance of the moon, for which the division will issue a separate notification.
Thereafter, no optional vacation will be granted to any government official without the prior permission of the head of the organization concerned.
Furthermore, no government official would be granted more than one optional holiday for Muslims and three optional holidays for non-Muslims in a calendar year.
“The granting of this concession should not lead to any disruption of work,” he added.
In the case of Muslim optional holidays, the number of people allowed to avail the optional holidays should be regulated so that adequate staff are available for proper continuation of work, the notification said.
“Optional holidays are denominational and may be allowed at the discretion of the head of the organization, as long as work is not affected,” adding: “Normally a government official should not be denied an optional holiday that is of religious importance”.
Below is the full list of holidays:
