The Haryana government on Wednesday declared that Eid-ul-Fitr, which falls on March 31 this year, will be a restricted holiday and not a gazetted one.

While a restricted holiday means that government employees can take paid leave for the day at their discretion, a gazetted holiday means that government offices and institutions are closed for the day.

The Haryana government’s human resources department said that the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr will be observed as a restricted holiday because March 29 and March 30 are weekend off days and March 31 is the closing day of the financial year 2024-’25.

Congress leader and Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed said on Friday that the state government’s decision “exposed the mindset” of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

However, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that making the occasion a restricted holiday “should not be made an issue”, ANI reported.

“This is the first time that three holidays have come at the end of the financial year,” Saini said. “... Many types of transactions take place at the end of the financial year, so we have declared it [Eid-ul-Fitr] a restricted holiday. If someone wants to take leave, there is no restriction on that...There should be no politics on this.”