Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued comprehensive directives to all officials on Friday (February 27), ensuring seamless Holi celebrations by mandating timely salary disbursals, rigorous accountability, and adjusted work schedules amid the festival's lunar eclipse complications. Emphasising welfare and discipline, he ordered that all government employees' salaries be disbursed before Holi, extending this to outsourcing staff, contractual workers, sanitation workers, and others - no exceptions.
"Kisi prakar ki laparwahi bardasht nahi ki jayegi" (no negligence will be tolerated), he warned, declaring February 28 (Saturday) a full workday while granting March 3 off, with official Holi holidays spanning March 2-4. These measures aim to boost morale, maintain productivity, and honour the festive spirit in the state.
Salary disbursal: A top priority for all workers
CM Yogi's first directive zeroes in on financial security for festive joy: all regular employees must receive salaries ahead of Holi, with equal urgency for outsourced, contractual, and sanitation staff. This inclusive approach addresses past complaints of delays hitting low-wage workers hardest, ensuring families can celebrate without stress. Officials face zero tolerance for lapses, with strict enforcement promised to uphold the CM's vision of a responsive administration during cultural high points like Holi.
Adjusted work calendar for Holi festivities
To balance work and worship, Yogi declared February 28 (Saturday) a compulsory workday, compensating with a holiday on March 3, 2026. Holi breaks will cover March 2, 3, and 4, aligning with regional customs complicated by a lunar eclipse shifting Braj's Holika Dahan to March 2 (instead of March 3 Phalgun Purnima), while colors-filled Dhulendi stays on March 4. Scholars like Mahamandaleshwar Karshni Gurusharananand Swami and astrologer Kameshwar Nath Chaturvedi confirmed the eclipse ends March 3 at 6:47 pm, ushering in Pratipada tithi, inauspicious for rituals, necessitating the shift for scriptural adherence.
Beefed-up security for Barsana's 'Lathmar Holi'
As festivities ramp up, Mathura's Barsana gears for iconic Lathmar Holi on Wednesday evening with unprecedented security: 4,000 personnel across eight zones and 14 sectors, overseen by additional SPs and magistrates. District Magistrate Chandraprakash Singh and SSP Shlok Kumar detailed 150+ CCTV points, drones, watchtowers, plainclothes intel teams, anti-hooligan squads, and vehicle barricades diverting traffic to parking zones. Divisional Commissioner Nagendra Pratap and ADG Anupam Kulshreshtha inspected setups, stressing courteous policing and swift action against absentees or misbehavior to safeguard millions of devotees.