Date:26/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/26/stories/2008032655411001.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Three holidays

The recommendation of three national holidays, if implemented, will be the single important step that will help the government staff to get out of their holiday culture. I would suggest that this recommendation be sealed by a constitutional amendment so that future governments will not tamper with it to gain political and sectarian favours.

Col. (retd.) Deepak Das,

Jaipur

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The three-national-holidays suggestion is commendable. If implemented, it will do away with the shutting of government offices and banks at the drop of a hat for days together. It is necessary to create monitoring bodies at all levels of administration while implementing the report.

They should evaluate individual performances, award incentives and punishments accordingly. The dead wood should be mercilessly cut down.

K. Venkataraman,

Mumbai

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Every 10 years, Pay Commissions ritualistically recommend a reduction in the number of public holidays and the Union government, after consideration, rejects the proposal. The original mistake was made by the Rajiv Gandhi government which introduced the five-day week, reducing productivity in one stroke by one-seventh. While the recommended three public holidays are unexceptionable, the other holidays will not go, thanks to vote-bank and caste politics.

R.V. Chandramouli,

Chennai