india

Updated: Nov 17, 2015 18:34 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday declared yet another public holiday on the occasion of Chhath puja on November 17. With this, the total number of public holidays in the state has gone up to 40, one of the highest in the country.

An official spokesperson, however, said the government offices that work five days a week will remain open on November 21 (Saturday) in lieu of the public holiday on November 17.

This is the second time within a month that the chief minister has announced a public holiday. Yadav had announced a public holiday on October 31 on the occasion of the birth anniversaries of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Acharya Narendra Dev.

Earlier this year, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had also announced a public holiday to observe the death anniversary of the principal architect of the Indian Constitution Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar on December 6. After the Akhilesh Yadav government came to power in 2012, the state government had removed Ambedkar’s death anniversary from the list of public holidays. The Mayawati-led BSP government had introduced a public holiday on Ambedkar’s death anniversary on December 6.

Yadav had also declared a public holiday on April 17 - the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar. He had earlier declared Bihar former chief minister Karpoori Thakur’s birth anniversary on January 24 as a public holiday.