On Weekend Off

Bini Dahal

The government has recently taken a new decision on closing down all the public offices and all schools on Saturdays and Sundays. This decision comes amidst a fall in the country’s purchasing power and the rising cost of fossil fuels. This provision will come into effect from May 15. 

According to the notice published in the Nepal Gazette, the government will introduce the weekends as holidays. Summer, winter and festival holidays will also be slashed, to some extent.  Half-holiday on Fridays and other public holidays will be cut off. Such changes in working days have been made to help complete bulky school curricula on time.

Under this plan that is going to be implemented on a trial basis, the government offices will have working hours from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. It’s not like this concept was not introduced before. In 2020, the government had forwarded the idea calling it a way to increase productivity and efficiency among government officials. A possible boost in domestic tourism was also cited as another reason. 

However, senior bureaucrats had not agreed to this. Nepal is known for her high number of public holidays. They felt that holidays on the weekends cannot help realise the expected benefits as anticipated by the government.

Currently, the situation has drastically changed since 2020. The government believes weekend holidays to be the most effective step to reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. Everyone is well aware of the fact that the economy is unstable and the country has now a very low foreign exchange reserve. Steps like banning the import of certain luxury items such as liquor, tobacco, snacks, mobile phones above $600 and television above 32 inches, vehicles, toys, among others, have been put in place.

Whether the additional holiday on Sundays will really help reduce fossil fuel consumption is a matter of discussion. However, the move has its own set of pros and cons. Firstly, teachers and schools will have to make an extra effort to manage the academic calendar so that they can complete the syllabuses on time. While doing so, there is a challenge of retaining the quality of education attained. 

Secondly, reducing public holidays mostly during festivities can make people ignorant of their culture. The nation has already witnessed a subtle decline in the number of people showcasing an affinity towards their traditions and culture. So, the weekend holiday may not be so useful as projected. 

Thirdly, there have been news reports of the public being declined from receiving major operations and other health services. This is because the government hospitals will remain closed on weekends. When there is no economic activity on a day, the country might fail to collect revenue for that day. Therefore, a situation can arise where the country could fall into a further economic slump.

After all, it is all about strategic and well-calculated move. Now that the government is going to implement the changes in the holiday pattern very soon, what we all can do is hope that the results will be achieved. The holiday should not be a cause for further problems. As we are graduating to a middle-income nation status by 2026, we must work hard to achieve that target. There should also be better service delivery in place.