Technical Guides & Architecture

In the Republic of India, public holidays are not governed by a single monolithic law. Instead, they derive authority from three legal and administrative mechanisms: 1. **National Holidays (Gazetted Compulsory)**: Republic Day (26 Jan), Independence Day (15 Aug), and Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday (02 Oct). These are mandatory nationwide closures for government offices, banks, educational institutions, and industrial establishments. 2. **Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (NI Act)**: Empowers the Central Government and State Governments to declare public holidays for banking operations and commercial instruments. 3. **DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) Circulars**: Annually issues the list of 14 compulsory Gazetted holidays and a pool of optional Restricted Holidays (RH) for administrative staff.

Understanding the operational difference is critical when building payroll, attendance, and SLA engines: - **Gazetted Holidays (GH)**: Mandatory non-working days for government offices, courts, and banks in the specified jurisdiction. All employees receive paid time off by default. - **Restricted Holidays (RH / Optional Holidays)**: A curated list of cultural, regional, or religious observances. Employees are typically entitled to pick 2 or 3 optional days per calendar year from this approved list. They are not automatic enterprise closures. The Calendar API tags every holiday record with a `type` field (`"gazetted"`, `"restricted"`, or `"observance"`), allowing automated systems to filter out optional leaves from enterprise calendar schedules.

Under the federal structure of the Constitution of India, State Governments possess sovereign authority to declare regional holidays under the NI Act. For example: - **Maharashtra Day** (May 1) is a Gazetted holiday in Maharashtra (`MH`), but a normal working day in Karnataka (`KA`). - **Chhath Puja** is gazetted in Bihar (`BR`) and Jharkhand (`JH`), but restricted or unobserved in southern states. - **Onam** is gazetted in Kerala (`KL`), while **Ugadi** is gazetted in Andhra Pradesh (`AP`), Telangana (`TS`), and Karnataka (`KA`). Always query the Calendar API with the exact state code (e.g. `region=KA`) to avoid applying wrong regional closures to remote employees.