Government of India Releases 2026 Holiday List for Central Government Offices

The Indian government has released the holiday calendar for 2026, outlining compulsory and optional holidays for central government offices across the country. Employees working in Delhi/New Delhi can choose two holidays from the restricted list, in addition to the compulsory holidays.

For employees outside Delhi/New Delhi, 14 national-level holidays are mandatory, and they must select three additional holidays from a list of 12 optional holidays. The compulsory holidays include Republic Day, Independence Day, Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday, Buddha Purnima, Christmas Day, Dussehra, Diwali, Good Friday, Guru Nanak's Birthday, Idu'l Fitr, Idu'l Zuha, Mahavir Jayanti, Muharram, and Prophet Mohammad's Birthday.

The optional holidays include:

Additional day for Dussehra

• Holi
• Janamashtami (Vaishnavi)
• Ram Navami
• Maha Shivratri
• Ganesh Chaturthi / Vinayak Chaturthi
• Makar Sankranti
• Rath Yatra
• Onam
• Pongal
• Sri Panchami / Basant Panchami
• Festivals like Vishu, Vaisakhi, Bhag Bihu, Ugadi variants, Cheti Chand, Gudi Padava, 1st Navratra, Naoraz, Chhath Puja, Karva Chauth

Some notable gazetted holidays in Delhi/New Delhi include:

• Republic Day: January 26 (Monday)
• Holi: March 4 (Wednesday)
• Id-ul-Fitr: March 29 (Sunday)
• Independence Day: August 15 (Saturday)
• Diwali: November 21 (Saturday)
• Christmas Day: December 25 (Friday)

The government may revise dates for Islamic holidays like Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Zuha, Muharram, and Id-e-Milad based on moon sighting.