Kolkata: Bengal govt is looking at reducing the number of holidays for its employees by 8-10 days from next year. CM Suvendu Adhikari has asked the additional chief secretary of the finance department, Prabhat Mishra, to slash the number of holidays to about 40. Currently, state staffers enjoy about 50 holidays in a calendar year.Speaking to reporters at Nabanna on Wednesday, Adhikari said a huge backlog of paperwork exists across departments and restoring a healthy work culture in govt offices is essential to clear pending files and ensure faster delivery of services.“I had called the finance secretary and told him that the number of holidays must be reduced. He submitted a list of 45 days. I told him to bring it down further to 40,” the CM said. He, however, did not specify which festivals or occasions are likely to be knocked off in the revised holiday calendar for 2027.A Nabanna official said, “We are working towards finalising the holiday list. We hope to release it by this month itself after taking final approval from the CM.”The list of public holidays had steadily expanded during the previous Trinamool Congress govt, with additional holidays being announced from time to time, taking the total number to around 50. Officially, the holiday list for 2026, which was notified by the finance department in Nov 2025, has 25 holidays under the NI Act and 22 under the order of the state govt.