Check Central Government Holiday List 2023: Know When Central Government Offices to Remain Closed

Central government holidays are the public holidays in India which are announced by the Union Government. These holidays apply to all central government offices in the country. The department of personnel and Training shoulders the responsibility of preparing and releasing the Central/ Union Government list of holidays.

There are two types of holidays in the list of gazetted holidays 2023 in central government i.e. Mandatory holidays and Restricted holidays. The mandatory holidays are given to all employees. On the other hand, employees get to choose the 2 holidays from the list of restricted holidays. So, it is important for all employees to know and understand the list and plan their holidays accordingly.

Central government holidays in 2023

There are 19 days of holidays in total that a central government employee can enjoy this year. These holidays are further divided into national, gazetted and restricted holidays in the following manner.

Type of holidays	Number of Days
National holidays	3 Days
Gazetted Holidays	14 Days
Restricted Holidays	2 Days
Total	19 Days

List of Central Government Offices Holidays

Central Government Administrative Offices located in Delhi/ New Delhi or outside will remain closed on the following days.

Central Government Compulsory Holidays List (14 Days)

Holiday	Date	Type of Holidays
Republic Day	26th January	National Holidays
Independence Day	15th August
Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday	2nd October
Buddha Purnima	5th May, Friday	Gazetted Holiday
Christmas Day	25th December, Monday
Dussehra (Vijay Dashmi)	24th October, Tuesday
Diwali (Deepavali)	12th November, Sunday
Good Friday	7th April, Friday
Guru Nanak’s Birthday	27th November, Monday
Id Ul Fitr	22nd April, Saturday
Id U’l Zuha	29th June, Thursday
Mahavir Jayanti	4th April, Tuesday
Muharram	29th July, Saturday
Prophet Mohammad’s Birthday (Id-E-Milad)	28th September. Thursday

Additional Holidays for Central Government Employees in 2023

In addition to the holidays, mentioned in the above table. Central government employees will also get three holidays from the list given below. For employees working in Delhi/ New Delhi, the Department of Personnel & Training will choose these holidays.

The Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committee in the state capitals will choose these three holidays for employees working outside Delhi/ New Delhi.

Holi – 8th March
Janmashtami – 6th/ 7th September
Ram Navami – 30th March
Maha Shivratri – 18th February
Ganesh Chaturthi / Vinayak Chaturthi – 19th September
Makar Sankranti – 15th January
Rath Yatra – 20th June
Onam – 29th August
Pongal – 15th January
Sri Panchami / Basant Panchami – 26th January
An Additional Day for Dussehra
Vishu/ Vaisakhi/ Vaisakhadi/ Bhag Bihu/ Mashadi Ugadi/ Chaitra Sukladi/ Cheti Chand/ Gudi Padava/ 1st Navratra/ Naoraz/ Chhath Puja/ Karva Chauth

Additional Information about Central Government

There are a few important things regarding holidays that the central government has instructed all departments to follow. Let’s take a look at them.

The government will not give a substitute holiday if the festival holiday falls on a weekly off. The same is also applicable in case two festivals fall on the same date.
All employees working in Delhi/ New Delhi should follow the declaration of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension regarding the holidays of Idu’l Fitr, Idu’l Zaha, Muharram, and Id-e-Milad. It is so because the dates of these festivals depend upon sighting of the Moon. The concerned state government will release the notification regarding the same for employees working outside Delhi.
It is possible that there will be a change in the festival’s date on very short notice. In such a situation, the government will release a notification through PIB/ TV/ AIR/ Newspapers. The head of department/ offices of the central government may take action according to such an announcement, without waiting for a formal order.
In some states, there are practices to celebrate Diwali a day in advance like “Naraka Chaturdasi Day. The central government will not object if the state government of such a state decides to observe the holiday on “Naraka Chaturdasi Day” in place of Diwali.
Those Central government organisations which include industrial, commercial and trading establishments would observe up to 16 holidays in 2023. These 16 holidays include national holidays i.e. Independence Day, Republic Day, and Mahatma Gandhi. Industrial/ Commercial/ Trading establishments will determine the rest of the holidays.
In respect of Bank holidays, the department of financial services, Ministry of Finance will release the notification.
For Indian Missions Abroad, employees will have the option to choose 13 holidays of their own. However, it is compulsory to include the three national holidays, Id-ul-Zuha, Milad-un-Nabi/ Id-e-Milad, and Christmas Day.

List of Central Government Restricted Holidays

Each employee in the central government is allowed to take two restricted holidays. The central government of India has released the list of 33 restricted holidays for the year 2023. If you are working for the union government then you can choose two of them.

New Year’s Day – 1st January
Makar Sankranti/ Magha Bihu – 14th January
Pongal – 15th January
Basant Panchami/ Sri Panchami – 26th January
Hazarat Ali’s Birthday, Guru Ravi Das’s Birthday – 5th February
Birthday of Swami Dayananda Saraswati – 15th February
Maha Shivaratri – 18th February
Shivaji Jayanti – 19th February
Holika Dahan – 7th March
Gudi Padava/ Ugadi/ Chaiti – 22nd March
Easter Sunday – 9th April
Vaishakhi Meshadi/ Vishu – 14th April
Vaishakhi (Bengal) (Assam)/ Vihag Bihu – 15th April
Jamat Vida-Ul – 21st April
Guru Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti – 9th May
Rath Yatra – 20 June
Parsi Nav Varsha (Navroz) – 16th August
Vinayak Chaturthi – 20 August
Onam Thiru (Onam Day) – 29th August
Raksha Bandhan – 30th August
Janmashtami – 6th September
Ganesh Chaturthi – 19th September
Dussehra (Saptami) – 21st October
Dussehra (Ashtami) – 22nd October
Dussehra (Maha Navmi) – 23rd October
Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti – 28th October
Karak Chaturthi/ Karva Chauth – 1st November
Narak Chaturthi – 12th November
Govardhan Puja – 13th November
Bhai Dooj – 15th November
Chhath Puja – 19th November
Guru Teg Bahadur Martyrdom Day – 24th November
Christmas Eve – 24th December

Note: The coordination committees at the state capitals may draw a separate list of restricted holidays keeping in view the occasions of local importance.

Central government holiday list 2023 pdf

It is always helpful to download the PDF file of a holiday list for future reference. You can view/ download or take a print of the Central government holiday PDF file from here.