In Telangana, the Congress-led government on Monday announced a reduction in the working hours for Muslim employees during the month of Ramadan. As per the order issued, the Muslim employees can leave the offices an hour earlier than their usual working hours. The order will apply to Muslim teachers, contract, outsourcing, board, and Public Sector employees.

As per the citing of the Moon, the fasting will begin on March 1 or 2. However, the decision sparked furious reactions from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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“Government hereby permit all Muslim government employees/teachers/contract/out-sourcing/boards/corporations and public sector employees working in the state to leave their offices/schools at 4 pm. during the holy month of “RAMZAN” i.e., from March 2 to 31 (both days inclusive) to offer necessary prayers, except when their presence is required due to exigencies of services during the above period,” said the Government Order.

However, the employees will have to stay back in case of any exigencies.

Slamming the decision, the BJP criticized Congress for allowing reducing work hours for Muslims and referred to it as an appeasement tactic and further alleged that no such concessions were granted to Hindus during their fast on Navratri. “The appeasement bug strikes the Congress government in Telangana, which has approved relaxed work hours for Muslim state employees during Ramzan. No such concessions are ever granted to Hindus when they fast during Navratri,” said BJP IT Cell In-charge Amit Malviya in a post on X.

Further, he accused Congress is trying to reduce the Muslim community to mere vote banks rather than being sensitive to their religious beliefs. “This tokenism isn’t about being sensitive to the religious beliefs of one community but about reducing them to a mere vote bank. It should be opposed.”

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The move has been in line with previous years, where similar concessions have been granted to accommodate religious practices during the fasting month. The state government’s decision was welcomed by several employees as it would help them balance their work responsibilities with religious obligations during Ramadan.