Bihar govt reduces school holidays to 'improve the school education system' by cutting holidays given for Hindu festivals like Durga Puja, Diwali, Chhath
Bihar, India 
28 August, 2023
Case Summary
On August 29th, the Bihar Education Department issued a notification reducing the number of festival holidays from September to December from 23 to 11. Additional Chief Secretary KK Pathak released the notification to 'improve' the state's school education system. The changes included scrapping the Rakshabandhan holiday, reducing the Durga Puja holidays from six to three, and decreasing the Diwali to Chhatth holidays from nine to four.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
In this case, the Bihar govt reduced Hindu holidays given during the year to increase efficiency of the education system. There are suspicions that only Hindu holidays were curtailed owing to religious prejudice. However, it is also possible that since Hindu festivals are more in number, the only option the board had was to decrease Hindu holidays. While the order still disadvantages Hindu students, there is no proof that it was the result of religious animosity. This is therefore being added to the undecided database.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
State and Establishment
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
