Ahead of the festive season, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab on Friday announced an 8% dearness allowance (DA) increase for government employees and pensioners, taking it to 50%, and bringing an end to a three-week agitation by government staffers. The DA will be released in two instalments of 4% each.
The combined 8% DA, which has been backdated to July 2023, will be disbursed on October 1 along with the September salary. The decision was announced after an hour-long meeting between chief minister Bhagwant Mann, cabinet ministers Aman Arora and Baljit Kaur, and 12 representatives of the Sanjha Mulazim Manch.
Speaking after the meeting, Arora said the decision would put an additional burden of around ₹231 crore on the state exchequer. He added that all employee-related issues had not been resolved completely and that both sides had agreed to hold another meeting in October to discuss the remaining demands.
Later, in a post on X, the CM said he had held a “very positive meeting” with employee and pensioner organisations. He said employees were “an important part of our family” and that, keeping their welfare in mind, the government had decided to increase the DA by 8%, with the benefit to reflect in the October salary.
Mann said the meeting also covered several long-pending issues inherited from previous governments, including the old pension scheme (OPS), salaries during the probation period and issues concerning ASHA and Mid-Day Meal workers. He said he would meet employee representatives again in the first week of October to work towards a permanent resolution of the outstanding issues.
{{/usCountry}}Mann said the meeting also covered several long-pending issues inherited from previous governments, including the old pension scheme (OPS), salaries during the probation period and issues concerning ASHA and Mid-Day Meal workers. He said he would meet employee representatives again in the first week of October to work towards a permanent resolution of the outstanding issues.
{{/usCountry}}Following the meeting, Sushil Kumar Fauji, president of the Civil Secretariat Employees’ Union, said the Sanjha Mulazim Manch had suspended its protest. He added that further action would be decided after the proposed meeting with the CM in the first week of October. All employees’ unions would also meet shortly to assess the government’s decision.
The Sanjha Mulazim Manch is an umbrella organisation comprising 153 employees’ and pensioners’ bodies.
The Punjab government has maintained that its employees receive among the highest salaries compared with those in other states. Mann had earlier claimed during public meetings and press conferences that if the Centre or another state government paid ₹36,000 to an employee, the Punjab government paid ₹50,000.
Gurnam Singh Virk, convener of the Sanjha Mulazim Manch, said the CM had agreed to a follow-up meeting in the first week of October to discuss the remaining demands. Virk clarified that ongoing court proceedings concerning older DA arrears and salary discrepancies would continue unaffected.
The state government had earlier challenged an August 3 order of the Punjab and Haryana high court directing it to clear pending DA arrears within 15 days, failing which an annual interest of 18% would apply. The matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
Under the Sixth Pay Commission revisions, 18% DA has remained pending for employees since January 1, 2016. The arrears on this account are estimated at ₹14,191 crore. In addition, another ₹6,000 crore in arrears is pending, taking the total outstanding arrears to approximately ₹20,191 crore.
Friday’s agreement brought an end to a deadlock that had intensified after an August 27 meeting in Jalandhar was cancelled when Mann reportedly sought an end to the employees’ protests before holding talks.
In response, union members observed mass casual leave on September 8 and had threatened to hold a mock Vidhan Sabha session on September 30, followed by blockades outside ministers’ residences in October.
Satish Rana, who represented pensioners in the forum, said the government had also agreed to withdraw disciplinary notices issued against employees who remained absent on August 27 and September 8.
Sukhchain Singh Khehra, head of the Civil Secretariat Employees’ Union, said employees had accepted the government’s immediate offer while keeping the possibility of further negotiations open. However, the forum rejected the government’s request to submit an affidavit before the high court stating that all disputes had been resolved.