Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Tuesday empowered the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), northern division, to declare special local holiday for the day following Nuakhai September 2 for Sambalpur and Bargarh districts.
The government action came following a demand from different quarters to declare two day government holiday for Nuakhai festival which is celebrated on September 1 this year. The government has earlier declared only one day (September 1) as the holiday.
Meanwhile, the state government has also announced that all banks will remain closed on September 1 on the occasion of Nuakhai.
Nuakhai is an agrarian festival where the first crop of the field is offered to the Goddess in western districts of the state and people seek blessings of elders in each household.
The festival is observed mostly in Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Deogarh and Sundergarh. Even the people in Boudh and Angul also observe the festival, officials said
Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly JN Mishra of BJP had earlier written a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requesting him to announce two-day holiday for Nuakhai festival, which is celebrated in a big way across the western region of the state.
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BJD leader and former MP Kalikesh Singhdeo had also urged the government to declare three-day holiday for Nuakhai.
Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra, who hails from Bolangir district, had also demanded two days government holiday for the Nuakhai.
Mishra said that people working in different parts of the state and country come to their native places for the festival and it require time for travelling.
Some local outfits in western districts also staged agitation demanding more government holiday for Nuakhai.
PTI