Most of the government employees are enjoying eight holidays on Eid this year, as those residing in different parts of the country have obtained three-day leave in advance for September 24, 25 & 26. Like the past, the government employees have taken advantage of the Eid holidays this year as well and they clubbed their leaves with official holidays.
In fact, the government offices would keep on giving deserted look throughout the week and majority of the workforce would return to their jobs with the start of next week. It has become a general practice now that the government employees try to take maximum advantage of any such event. The public as well as the administration high-ups are also used to this trend.
The normal office working at the government departments start after full week holidays. However, the private sector is comparatively strict to their employees and never lets them off without any genuine justification. Interestingly, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also seems helpless and the civil secretariat would be presenting a deserted look for remaining part of the current week.
When asked, one senior official said majority of the public sector employees belongs to the areas situated outside Lahore, therefore, they do not attend office well in time. However, he added in the same breath, there are also genuine cases where the employees have no option but to ask for extra leaves due to unavoidable circumstances back home.
The government had announced three holidays from September 21 to 23 on account of Eid-ul-Fitr. However, most of the employees have got sanctioned three-day leave in advance for September 24, 25 & 26. There was weekly offs ie Sunday on September 20 and 27. Therefore, most of the employees will enjoy eight holidays from September 20 to 27, and routine work in government offices will resume on Monday (September 28). Moreover, city roads on Wednesday wore a deserted look, as most of the inhabitants hailing from other parts of the country left for their hometowns.