Hyderabad: The Telangana state and AP governments on Tuesday announced a change in the general holiday on the occasion of Holi from March 5 (Thursday) to March 6 (Friday).

Stating the reason behind the change, TS  chief secretary Rajiv Sharma said, “We received representations from employees that as the Central government had a holiday on March 6, it would be more appropriate to have it on the same day in the state as well.”
 
In view of the holiday for Holi being pushed to Friday, the exam for the SSC students in Telangana which was originally scheduled for March 6 has been advanced to March 5.
The Osmania University has also rescheduled PG internal examinations from March 6 to March 9.
 
For IT and ITES employees of Hyderabad, it will depend on the companies as Holi is not on the list of mandatory holidays, said a representative of Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association. It will be a long weekend for those who get a holiday on Friday.
 
“Most of software companies have a holiday on Holi as the festival is celebrated widely in the city. However, it totally depends on the company as it is an optional holiday,” said the representative.