Mohan Majhi Govt says no to celebration of New Year on office premises

The Bharatiya Janata Party Government has directed not to celebrate New Year on January 1 in government premises as it is a working day.

In the statement made by the Prime Minister’s Office, it was stated that as the day is a government working day, normal work will continue in all State Government offices and that government offices should not be used to celebrate the British New Year in any way.

The decision stated, “Except for personal, courtesy-based purchases, all kinds of celebrations, meetings, banquets and parties are completely prohibited in the premises of State Government offices.”

Going a step further, the government has instructed all heads of offices and institutions to ensure strict compliance with the ban on official campus partying.

However, Prime Minister Mohan Charan Majhi extended his warmest greetings and congratulations to everyone.

“As the day will be a normal government working day, the Prime Minister’s Office will operate as a normal working day. Therefore, no one is requested to appear in person to convey British New Year greetings or congratulations to the Prime Minister or Prime Minister’s Office staff,” the notification reads.

Earlier, politicians across parties, government employees associations, students and the general public would line up to welcome former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on New Year’s Day. The previous government had stopped the New Year celebrations for a while due to the tragic events that took place at that time.

Employee groups were also seen presenting flower bouquets to department secretaries at the event. Working days often resembled public holidays, with offices in celebration mode, and routine administrative work was reported to have stopped. There were also cases where corporate liaisons and interest groups used the opportunity to present expensive gifts to key ministers and senior government officials.