Manipur amends Good Friday order after stir by civil bodies

The Manipur government has rolled back its order to make Good Friday a full working day for all government offices, following protests by various civil bodies in the state, which has significant Christian population.

Earlier, the government had said Good Friday would be a working day for all government offices and financial institutions to avoid anticipated rush for passing of bills at the fag end of the 2017-18 financial year.

A new modified order was issued yesterday by the Joint Secretary of General Administrative Department on Thursday evening to state that "Good Friday will be full working day for financial institutions and banks" linked to state treasuries.

Senior Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Gaikhangam Gangmei told reporters this morning that Good Friday is universally accepted as a holiday and to change it is a "breach of the secular feature of the Constitution".