Govt of the Pakistan Ministry of Interior has issued Notification No. F.No.2/6/2013-Public dated 9th January 2014 in connection with Gazetted Holidays & Optional Holiday in the year 2014.
As per previous practice, in consultation with Metrological Department Karachi for expected dates of appearance of moon during the year 2014 and Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony for dates of festivals of minorities, following public and optional holidays for the calendar year 2014 have been prepared:
Public Holidays in the year 2014
The detail of the Public Holidays in the year 2014 is as under:
| Sr. No | Name of Occasion | Days | Dates During year 2014 |
| 1 | Eid Milad-un-Nabi (12 Rabi-ul-Awal 1435 AH) | Tuesday | 14th January 2014 |
| 2 | Kashmir Day | Wednesday | 5th February 2014 |
| 3 | Pakistan Day | Sunday | 23rd March 2014 |
| 4 | Labour Day | Thursday | 1st May 2014 |
| 5 | Eid-ul-Fitr (1st Shawal 1435 AH) | Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday) | 29th, 30th, 31st July 2014 |
| 6 | Independence Day | Thursday | 14th August 2014 |
| 7 | Eid-ul-Azha (10th Zil Haj 1435 AH) | Monday & Tuesday | 6th & 7th October 2014 |
| 8 | Iqbal Day | Sunday | 9th November 2014 |
| 9 | Ashura (9th & 10th Moharrum 1435 AH) | Monday & Tuesday | 3rd & 4th November 2014 |
| 10 | Quaid-e-Azam Day/Christmas) | Thursday | 25th December 2014 |
| 11 | Day after Christmas | Friday | 26th December 2014 (For Christians only) |
The following will be Bank Holidays, however on these dates banks will remain closed for public not for their employees:
1st January 2014 (Wednesday)
1st July 2014 (Tuesday)
30th June 2014 (Monday) corresponding to 1st Ramazan 1435 AH (Subject to the appearance of moon).
Note: Holidays for Muslim Festivals are subject to appearance of moon for which a separate Notification will be issued.
Optional Holidays in the year 2014
The detail of the Optional Holidays in the year 2014 is as under:
| Sr. No | Name of Occasion | Days | Dates During year 2014 |
| 1 | New Year Day | Wednesday | 1st January 2014 |
| 2 | Basant Punchami | Tuesday | 4th February 2014 |
| 3 | Giarhwin Sharief (11 Rab-us-Sani 1435 AH) | Tuesday | 11th February 2014 |
| 4 | Shivaratri | Thursday | 27th February 2014 |
| 5 | Holi | Sunday | 16th March 2014 |
| 6 | Dulhandi | Monday | 17th March 2014 |
| 7 | Baisakhi | Monday | 14th April 2014 |
| 8 | Good Friday | Friday | 18th April 2014 |
| 9 | Easter/Day After Easter | Sunday/Monday | 20th & 21st April 2014 |
| 10 | Eid-e-Rizwan (Bahai’s Community Only) | Monday | 21st April 2014 |
| 11 | Buddha Purnima | Wednesday | 14th May 2014 |
| 12 | Shab-e-Meraj (27th Rajab 1435 AH) | Tuesday | 27th May 2014 |
| 13 | Shab-e-Barat (15th Shaban 1435 AH) | Saturday | 14th June 2014 |
| 14 | Janam Ashtami | Sunday | 17th August 2014 |
| 15 | Nouroze (parsi’s New Year Day) | Monday | 18th August 2014 |
| 16 | Birthday of Lord Zoroaster (Khordad Sal) | Tuesday | 23rd August 2014 |
| 17 | Durga Pooja | Thursday | 25th September 2014 |
| 18 | Dusehra | Friday | 3rd October 2014 |
| 19 | Birthday of Guru Valmik Swami Ji | Wednesday | 8th October 2014 |
| 20 | Diwali | Thursday | 23rd October 2014 |
| 21 | Guru Nanak’s Birthday | Thursday | 6th November 2014 |
| 22 | Chehlum (20th Safar 1435 AH) | Saturday | 13th December 2014 |
Note: In case of Muslim Festivals, the dates of Optional Holidays are based on anticipated dates and are subject to appearance of moon.
- Government Servants desiring to avail themselves of Optional Holidays shall take prior permission of the Head of the Office concerned and no Government servant shall be granted more than one optional holiday in case of Muslims and three optional holidays in case of Non-Muslims in a calendar year.
- The grant of this concession should not result in any dislocation of work. In the case of Muslims optional holidays, the number of persons permitted to avail optional holidays should be regulated in such a manner so as to leave adequate staff for proper continuance of work.
- The Optional Holidays are denominational and may be allowed at the discretion of the Head of Office, provided the state of work permit.
- A Government servant should not ordinarily be refused an Optional Holiday that is of religious significance to him and the refusal is likely to decrease the number of such holidays to which he is entitled.
This post has been delivered by Major Nadeem Asghar (Retd)/Senior Executive Legal & Labour Affairs/FFC