Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government declared January 14 as Pongal holiday in 6 districts, where there is considerable Tamil population, switching the date from January 15. The one-day local holiday was announced in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Palakkad and Wayanad districts.
A government order issued in this regard said though January 15 was mentioned as ‘Pongal’ holiday in this year’s calendar, it is changed from Saturday to Friday. It also said the change was made considering the request of the Tamil Protection Council and also in accordance with the holidays of the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre. However, January 15 would be a working day in these districts in its place.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin also sent a letter to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan urging him to continue the practice of declaring January 14 as a local holiday for the Pongal festival for Tamils living in that state. Stalin requested that a local holiday be declared for Pongal in six districts of the neighbouring State where Tamil speaking people live in large numbers.
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