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DA arrears: HC deadline ends, govt employees set for mega strike on Aug 27
The protest is aimed at pressing for the release of pending 18% DA and pay commission arrears, restoration of the old pension scheme, regularisation of contractual staff and the fulfilment of other demands
With the deadline set by the high court for the Punjab government to clear dearness allowance (DA) dues ending on Tuesday, government employees have intensified their preparations for a statewide protest and ‘mass leave’ on August 27.
The protest is aimed at pressing for the release of pending 18% DA and pay commission arrears, restoration of the old pension scheme, regularisation of contractual staff and the fulfilment of other demands.
Punjab Sanjha Mulazam Manch leader Sukhchain Singh Khehra said that government employees, including teachers, ministerial staff, technical staff, Class 4 employees, medical staff, transport employees and others will participate in the “Maha Bandh” next week.
“The state government has failed to fulfil our demands and has only been giving us empty assurances. It has not released the DA arrears, despite clear directions from the Punjab and Haryana high court. The finance department’s instructions to top officials not to release the arrears show the state government’s intention,” he said.
On August 3, a division bench of the high court directed the state government to clear all pending DA dues of approximately 7.5 lakh employees and pensioners within a fortnight. The court further ordered that until all outstanding DA amounts are fully cleared, the state government must refrain from “unproductive expenditures” such as large-scale print and social media advertising campaigns. The bench ruled that default on the timeline would attract a 6% annual interest penalty.
The finance personnel branch of the finance department, with specific reference to cases being disposed of based on the court order, on Monday instructed all special chief secretaries, additional chief secretaries, financial commissioners and administrative secretaries that no such orders may be implemented without the department’s prior concurrence. While the government instruction drew criticism from the opposition, finance minister Harpal Cheema claimed the communication was issued to ensure uniformity and clarity across departments as there was a lot of confusion regarding the matter.
However, Punjab State Civil Secretariat Staff Union president Sushil Kumar said the employees would file a contempt of court petition against the state government for not complying with the high court’s order. “The state government should release the pending arrears of all employees and pensioners right away. We will observe a complete strike on August 27 if our demands are not met by then,” he said.
Regarding chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s invitation for talks on August 27, Kumar said that the employees would meet the chief minister to discuss their demands, but there would be no change in their protest plans, which were announced before the government extended invitation for talks.
Meanwhile, the staff associated with the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union (PMSU) observed a two-day pen-down strike at district and sub-division level offices on August 17 and 18 to press these demands. The state authorities have estimated the total liability on account of DA and pay arrears at more than ₹18,000 crore.
