New York City likely to make Diwali a school holiday

New York: The Hindu festival of Diwali is likely to be a school holiday in New York City. The New York state legislature has recently passed a Bill 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. 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.

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. This year Diwali will be celebrated on November 12.

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.