This Christmas is unlikely to be as merry as always for some government staffers, with a number of central government offices set to remain open on December 25 to celebrate the NDA government’s ‘Good Governance Day’ initiative.

Those planning to organise staff events like full-day seminars include the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), the Ministry of Rural Development as well as the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). While these events are being held on Christmas day “to highlight good governance practices”, the staff have been told that no “official work” would be conducted on that day.

“It has been decided that December 25 should be commemorated as Good Governance Day. DeitY is organising a function to share with public and media the good governance initiatives and projects undertaken by DeitY and its associated agencies.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology will be the chief guest at this event,” said a December 18 missive sent by DeitY Secretary R S Sharma, adding that the main event would be for two hours while the exhibition would run throughout the day.

The NDA government has reportedly been keen to commemorate former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary, which falls on December 25, as a nationwide ‘Good Governance Day’. While the Ministry of Human Resources and Development had earlier planned to make educational institutions celebrate the day, central government agencies are now also coming up with events.

“Offices will remain open for a few hours but December 25 will not be a typical working day where files are sent and meetings are held. Instead, there will be cultural and public events on good governance issues,” said a person familiar with the development.

The EPFO is also scheduled to hold a two-hour long seminar on good governance practices on December 25 that will have eminent speakers with PF department officials in attendance. Similarly, the Ministry of Rural Development will celebrate the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Day to commemorate 15 years of the scheme. “Rural Development Minister Birender Singh will inaugurate the event and also release some brochures on the scheme,” said a source, pointing out that it was Vajpayee who had launched the scheme.

However, another person said that not all central government offices would remain open. “It has been indicated that government offices should hold some event on December 25 to celebrate ‘Good Governance Day’ but not all offices are planning to do so,” he said, adding that ministries and agencies that were in some way associated with the former PM are organising such events.

Meanwhile, the Press Information Bureau on Tuesday also launched a webpage to mark ‘Good Governance Day’. “The webpage is a one-stop information resource on the former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose 90th birthday coincides with the Good Governance Day on 25th December,” said an official release.