List of Holidays in 2020 - Government, Public & Bank Holidays in India

News About List of Holidays – Government, Bank and Public Holidays in India

• Govt. announces holiday schedule for 2020

  The holiday schedule for 2020 was announced by the government of India on Friday. The schedule is divided across three classifications namely gazetted, restricted, and state and union territory. The public holidays in the country are governed through six laws namely –

  • Weekly Holidays Act, 1942
  • Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946
  • National and Festivals Holidays Act, 1963
  • Negotiable Instruments Act 1981
  • Companies Act 2013
  • Shops and Commercial Establishments Act

  There are a total of 17 gazetted and 32 non-gazetted holidays in 2020. It must be noted here that in 2020, most public holidays occur over weekends. Republic day, Bakrid Id, Independence Day, Ganesh Chaturthi, Parsi New Year, Dussehra and Diwali all fall in weekends.

  

  20 December 2019

• All India bank strike proposed on 22 October

  An all-India bank strike has been proposed on 22 October by two of the leading bank employee unions. These are the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) and the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA). The objective of the strike is to oppose the merger of 10 of the state-run banks into four banks. State Bank of India (SBI) stated that its operations would not be affected by the strike as most of its employees are not members of these two unions. However, Syndicate Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Oriental Bank of Commerce, and Bank of Baroda have stated that their operations would be affected due to the strike. Some of the other demands of the two unions are job security, action on defaulter charges, recovery of bad loans, and protest against the high service and penal charges for customers. The proposed merger would reduce the number of public sector banks from 27 to 12. Some of the mergers are Andhra Bank with Union Bank of India and Corporation Bank, Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank, and Punjab National Bank with Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India.

  

  21 October 2019

• Bank holidays in October

  October has a number of public holidays on account of numerous festivals that are taking place during the month. There are a total of eight holidays in the month of October, which includes the weekend days of Saturday and Sunday too. However, banks will have state-wise holidays too which will differ from place to place. The general holidays are 2 October which marks the 150-year anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, 7 October which is Navami, 8 October which is Dussehra, and 27 October which is Diwali. In between these comes Sundays which fall on 6 October, 13 October, and 20 October. Second Saturday and fourth Saturday are also bank holidays which fall on 12 October and 26 October respectively.

  In West Bengal, holidays for State Bank of India run from 5 October to 8 October while in Tamil Nadu it is closed on 7 October on account of Ayudha Pooja. Some banks may also be closed on 28 October and 29 October on account of Diwali and Bhaidooj respectively. People have thus been advised to complete all their bank-related transactions keeping in mind these holiday dates in order to avoid any problems later.

  

  7 October 2019

• Planned bank strike on September 26 and September 27 called off

  The bank officer’s union has deferred the planned 2-day bank strike after discussions with the government. The government has provided assurances that their concerns will be looked into. Four unions had called for a strike on September 26 and September 27 after the government announced that 10 public sector banks will be merged to 4.

  According to a statement issued by the bank unions, the strike was deferred as the Finance Secretary was positive in the formation of a committee to look into the concerns of the bank unions. The four unions that called for a two-day strike were the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO), Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), and All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC). The strike was deferred after representatives of the four unions met the Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar, who gave them positive feedback regarding the formation of Committee to look into their concerns. Banking activities will not be affected on these days since the strike has been called off. In case the planned strike had gone ahead, banks would have remained closed for four days in a row as the two days following the strike were the fourth Saturday and Sunday.

  

  25 September 2019

• April 18 to be a public holiday in Tiruchi

  In order to allow individuals, exercise their democratic right Tamil Nadu government has declared April 18 as a public holiday. The government informed this through a statement and has asked all private companies to comply with the order. The statement added that action will be taken against those companies who fail to pay the employees after the units are closed on the said day. 

  It needs to be mentioned here that the state of Tamil Nadu has a total of 39 Lok Sabha seats. The state has the fourth highest number of Lok seats in the country after Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Bihar. 

  

  14 April 2019

• Services Set To Be Impacted By 30th-31st May Bank Strike

  State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender stated that the 2-day bank strike would impact its operations across the country. Employees of SBI are set to join other public sector banks and some private sector banks in the 2 day strike to protest wage hikes. The unions representing the unions have rejected the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)’s decision to hike wages by 2%. 

  The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) submitted letters to the IBA as well as the Finance Ministry and the Labour Ministry with a list of demands as well as their opposition to the wage hike percentage. The union demanded a quick resolution to the deadlock over the wage hike as well as other service improvements. 

  Bank branches of SBI, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda among other public sector banks will remain shut over 30th and 31st May, 2018.

  

  30 May 2018

• Banks to remain closed today and tomorrow in many states

  On account of Buddha Purnima and International Workers’ Day, banks will remain shut in many states on 30th April 2018 and 1st May 2018. Banks across the country shall remain closed usually on the second and fourth Saturdays. Since 28th April fell on Saturday, banks in some states will not work for 4-days in a row. Be sure to check whether or not your bank will function today and tomorrow. Today, the FX market shall remain shut. Stock markets will remain closed tomorrow on account of Maharashtra Day.

   

  Here are a few things to notice about a 4-day bank holiday in several states:

  • ATMs will remain opened. Internet banking will not be affected.
  • Bank holidays differ from state to state.
  • According to reliable sources, on account of Buddha Purnima, the banks in Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana shall be shut.
  • On Tuesday 1st May 2018, the banks in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra shall be closed on account of International Workers’s Day.

  

  30 April 2018

• Banks will not remain closed for 5 days in a row - officials confirm

  On Monday, a union leader said “Beginning from Thursday, banking institutions across the country shall not remained off for 5 days in a row.” D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers Confederation, said “Banks will function on 31 March 2018, the last working day of the fiscal year 2017-2018. There are no continuous holidays for banks.” “On account of Mahaveer Jayanthi and Good Friday, banks will remain closed on Thursday and Friday, but they will function on Saturday, which is the 5th Saturday of the month. Banks remain closed only on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month,” he further added.

  

  26 March 2018