CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu govt has announced that Jan 17 will be a holiday for govt offices, public sector undertakings and educational institutions.
Pongal (Jan 14), Thiruvalluvar day (Jan 15), Uzhavar Thirunal (Jan 16) have already been declared as public holidays. This means that there will be six holidays during Pongal since Jan 18 and 19 are Saturday and Sunday.
The institutions will function on Jan 25 to compensate for the holiday on Jan 17.
The govt had received requests from many quarters to declare a holiday on the intervening day so that students, parents, teachers, and govt staff could go to their native places and celebrate the festival, said an official release.