Six Months of Holidays a Year. Only in Akhilesh Yadav's Uttar Pradesh

A change of government in a state usually means new policies. In Uttar Pradesh, it also means a new set of holidays. But given the new holidays the four-year-old Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government has declared, a back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that government employees now need to work only for six months a year.

With assembly elections due next year, the government has declared three more holidays.
The new holidays are dedicated to political leaders - the government has not been choosey about their party affiliation. The list includes birth anniversaries of former Prime Ministers Charan Singh and Chandrashekhar and former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur.

The holiday tally of Uttar Pradesh is 38, in comparison to other big states like Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, which have 25 public holidays.

Coupled with a five-day week for Vidhan Sabha staff and departmental head offices, three holidays for district-level employees and two optional holidays, most government employees can be off six months a year.

Not everyone is celebrating though.

A petition has been filed in the Lucknow High Court against "holiday politics". The petitioner, Amitabh Thakur, said, "I have asked the court to restrict the holidays to a minimum and not allow holidays in the names of every political leader. Only a few should be allowed".