New York City likely to make Diwali a school holiday: Report
File photo.
The Hindu festival of Diwali is likely to be a school holiday in New York City. According to a report by the Times of India on Sunday (June 18), the New York state legislature passed a bill last week to make Diwali a school holiday in the city before it was adjourned. Both the New York Senate and the Assembly voted in favour of the bill before they ended their session on June 10, the report said.
The bill will now go to Governor Kathy Hochul who is expected to sign it to make it a law. Two earlier attempts to pass the bill in 2021 and 2022 had failed.
Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, who introduced the bill, said it fulfilled the dream of the South Asian community when she passed her bill (A.7769) to designate Diwali as a public school holiday in New York City, the Times of India report added.
Diwali has not been declared a national holiday in the United States yet. Last month, US Congresswoman Grace Meng introduced a bill in Congress to declare Diwali a federal holiday. If passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, the Diwali Day Act would make the festival the 12th federally recognised holiday in the US, the report further said.
This year Diwali will be celebrated on November 12.
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Pennsylvania declares Diwali an official holiday
In April, the US state of Pennsylvania declared Diwali an official holiday. The announcement was made by Senator Nikil Saval on Twitter. "The Senate voted unanimously to recognize Diwali as an official holiday! To all Pennsylvanians who celebrate this festival of light and connection: you are seen, you are welcome, you matter," Senator Saval tweeted on April 26.
The legislation to make Diwali an official holiday was introduced by Saval and Senator Greg Rothman. In a statement, Senator Rothman said, "Recognising Diwali as an official state holiday upholds and celebrates our Commonwealth’s rich cultural diversity."
“Thousands of Pennsylvanians celebrate Diwali each year, including many residents of the 34th Senatorial District,” the statement added.
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