Jharkhand has declared a holiday for government schools on Monday, and half-day for government offices on the occasion of the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya.

In a directive issued on Sunday late afternoon, chief minister Hemant Soren heading a JMM-Congress-RJD alliance government has directed chief secretary L. Khiangte to close all the government schools for the entire day on Monday while government offices, establishments and banks will be asked to operate after 2.30 pm because of the “pran pratistha” of the Ram Temple.

Incidentally, central government offices have already been directed by the BJP-led Centre to be closed till 2.30 pm on Monday.

Most of the BJP-led states have either given half day to their employees and ordered school closure and also declared dry-day in their states.

The Jharkhand BJP has been requesting the Jharkhand government to declare January 22 as a state holiday.

In a letter to the chief minister on Thursday, the leader of the Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly and senior BJP leader Amar Kumar Bauri requested Soren to honour Lord Ram by declaring January 22 as a state holiday.

Bauri had told the media: “January 22 will be a golden moment in the history of India when the entire country and the world will witness the consecration of Ram temple. Lord Ram is revered not only in India but throughout the world.”

Earlier, on January 12, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash had requested the Jharkhand government to declare January 22 as a “dry day”.

In a letter to the chief minister, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash had called for a ban on the sale of liquor and meat on that day.