London: The UNICEF has tendered a public apology for excluding Hindu and Sikh festivals from its pocket diary for the current year.

Responding to the objections raised by the British Hindu community leaders last week, Anita Tiessen, deputy executive of UNICEF, UK, said, "UNICEF UK's 2004 free pocket diary has, due to an error, been published without the dates of the major Hindu and Sikh religious festivals.

"The UNICEF extends its apologies to both the Hindu and Sikh communities in the UK for this unacceptable oversight and for any inconvenience or distress caused. UNICEF UK will ensure that all further editions of the diary include both the Hindu and Sikh major festivals along with the other dates highlighted," she said.

Meanwhile, MPs from the Conservative Parliamentary Friends of India have tabled a House of Commons motion calling for Hindu festivals to be included in all diaries and calendars produced by public organisations.

Earlier, Ramesh Kallidai, general secretary of the Hindu Centre for Communications, had raised the issue why UNICEF had not replied for two years to a letter from Swaminathan of the World Hindu Mahasangam asking it to include Hindu festivals in their diaries.

Sara Epstein, Media Relations Officer for UNICEF, said, "I regret that the response was not swifter in this case but can assure you that UNICEF takes this matter seriously and is committed to ensuring that the 2005 diaries contain all the major Hindu festival dates."