E-Paper
Protesting Haryana govt employees met with lathi charge cannons near Panchkula-Chandigarh border
A scuffle broke out between the Haryana govt employees, who are demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, and police when they tried to move towards Chandigarh
Multiple protesters suffered injuries after hundreds of state government employees, led by Pension Restoration Sangarsh Samiti (PRSS), who had gathered in Panchkula to demand restoration Old Pension Scheme (OPS) were on Sunday lathi charged by police after they tried to move towards the Panchkula-Chandigarh barrier.
Panchkula and Chandigarh Police resorted to water cannons and tear gas to disperse the gathering at the Sector 8-17 roundabout.
A scuffle broke out between the group and police when they tried to move towards Chandigarh. Police first tried to stop the protests by using water cannons, but later resorted to lathi charge on the protestors and used tear gas shells.
Around 30 protestors were injured during the incident. Chandigarh police officials confirmed that none of the police officers had gotten injured. They said that both the Panchkula Police and the Chandigarh police had to resort to water cannons and using tear gas to bring the situation under control.
Speaking of the protest, Sujeet Kumar of PRSS said, “We demand that the OPS should be restored timely without any delay. Employees of various departments including education, health, public works, urban development, Haryana Urban Development Authority participated in this demonstration.”
Leader of opposition in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Bhupinder Singh Hooda, meanwhile, condemned the use of lathi charge and tear gas on what he called was a “peaceful protest” for the legitimate demands of the employees.
