Should Gandhi Jyanti Be a Holiday ? A Special Discussion

Continuing to ‘tweet’ his opinion despite receiving flak, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor now feels people should work rather than enjoy a holiday on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday.

“Gandhiji said ‘Work is Worship’ and we enjoy holiday on his birthday,” he said in a reply to a posting on Twitter. To support his contention, Mr. Tharoor cited the views of visiting Vietnamese Vice-President Nguyen Thi Doan.

“In V’nam (Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh’s birthday is a working day and citizens are expected to put in an extra effort at work to honour him,” he said quoting Mr. Nguyen whom he met at a dinner hosted by Vice-President Hamid Ansari Thursday night.

Now lets have a Group discussion on this Very heated argument that whether Gandhi jayanti should be a holiday.

Against :

1. No,it should not be a holiday. Most of us spend time watching movies, shopping, etc. By declaring a holiday on October 2, the government is only offering scope to people to do just the opposite of what Gandhiji preached and believed in.
   
   
2. Mahatma Gandhi preached 'Work is worship'. As a tribute to the Mahatma, why shouldn’t all of us decide to work on his birth anniversary and contribute the day’s salary to the cause of the poor?
3. All offices, factories, institutions and the like should function and the salary can go to the government’s fund for the poor.
4. Schools and colleges should be opened and attendence should be made compulsory for this day.. They should have special assemblies to be given special lectures on mahatma gandhi's teachings and offer prayers.
5. People can plant trees, clean the streets, teach the underprivileged, and spread awareness on various issues in the villages. Undertaking such activities would be the best tribute to the Mahatma.
6. Every nation has nearly just 4-5 national holidays.
   Central Govt has itself more than 30 holidays for various religious and other occasions.If including holidays given by state govts ,it comes to approx 68-70.Then 104 days of the weekend,Then medical leaves ,casual leaves..So,in total..in public sector ,people just working approx only half a year.This really needs to get changed if we need to be developed and uplift our economic status.
   
7. One day bandh in Mumbai costs loss of 10 crores.Approx 40 billion is wasted in each holiday.Its really an enormous loss to the economy.
8. Religious days need to be holiday as people have to perform certain rituals,sacrifices, fasts etc required by that religion.So ,secular holiday is different from a religious holiday.Most of the people take this secular holidays as an excuse to goof off and goofing off in the memory of a leader who preached work as worship is a real question .
   

Favour :

1. It should be a holiday. He is the secular symbol of the nation.Its the day to sit at home and tell our children the stories of this great man.
2. A little more shut down is needed today in this fast moving world.We need to improve work ethic.In some developed countries, they are working just 35hrs per week. Its perfectly fine if productivity is world class.
3. If 2nd october is to withdrawn as a holiday ,then religious holidays should also be withdrawn.Why celebrate b'day of lord krishna ,jesus christ etc.They never favoured leisure life.They also preached to work diligently.
4. On this day, all shops are opened, Hotels working ,malls there.So,its a day people can shop and relax.In this fast and furious world, it is possible for us to forget October 2 if it is not declared a holiday.
5. The argument that holidays result in loss of productivity is unsubstantiated. If employees work all 365 days a year, we will still experience a decline in productivity due to lack of rest. It is necessary to have holidays, more so, in the memory of the Father of the Nation. It is the only way many would remember Mahatma Gandhi.