More than 3 lakh employees of Punjab government departments, boards and corporations will observe a mass casual leave on Thursday to protest the non-payment of pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears and several other long-standing demands.
More than 4 lakh pensioners are also expected to join the agitation and stage sit-ins at government offices at the district, tehsil and block levels.
Various employee unions spearheading the protest have appealed to government employees across Punjab to take casual leave and hold demonstrations outside their respective offices.
The proposed agitation is expected to disrupt several government services across the state, with employees of the health and transport departments also participating in the mass casual leave.
Services at government hospitals, clinics and dispensaries could be affected, while state-run bus services may also face disruption. Government teachers are also participating in the protest, which could lead to a disruption in teaching activities at government schools, colleges and universities.
Govt changes CM-unions’ meeting venue
Amid the growing standoff, the Punjab government has invited representatives of various employee unions for talks with chief minister Bhagwant Mann around 1pm on Thursday. The meeting will be held at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) complex in Jalandhar, instead of Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh.
{{/usCountry}}Amid the growing standoff, the Punjab government has invited representatives of various employee unions for talks with chief minister Bhagwant Mann around 1pm on Thursday. The meeting will be held at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) complex in Jalandhar, instead of Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh.
{{/usCountry}}A senior government official said the venue was shifted to prevent any possible confrontation between protesting employees and union leaders if the talks fail to produce a breakthrough.
“PAP is a closed campus managed by the police and there are no security issues,” the official said.
The change of venue also comes amid a strike by employees of the hospitality department. According to the official, their absence could have created difficulties in organising the meeting at Punjab Bhawan.
President of the Civil Secretariat Staff Association and a member of the joint forum of employee unions Sushil Kumar Fauji said the immediate release of pending DA remains the employees’ main demand.
He said neither the government nor employees could backtrack on the issue because the Punjab and Haryana high court had already issued directions for payment of the arrears.
The high court, while clubbing several petitions related to the matter, had on August 3 directed the state government to clear the pending DA arrears within 15 days, setting August 18 as the deadline. The deadline has already expired.
According to the employee unions, the court order also makes the government liable to pay 6% annual interest for the delay in clearing the arrears.
Fauji said the unions had announced the mass casual leave a week ago but the government had not responded to their demand for immediate payment.
He said Thursday’s meeting would focus mainly on the other pending demands of employees, while the unions would continue to insist on compliance with the High Court’s directions on DA.
₹20,161-cr DA arrears pending
According to the employee unions, a total of ₹20,161 crore in DA remains pending for government employees. Of this, around ₹6,000 crore has reportedly been pending since 2021, while another ₹14,161 crore relates to the period before that.
Employees are currently receiving DA at 42% of basic pay, while they claim that the applicable rate should be 58%, leaving a significant portion of the arrears unpaid.
Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the government had already started clearing arrears in phases.
“We have started paying arrears of our time in a phased manner,” Cheema said, adding that dues of pensioners aged 75 years and above had been cleared and payments to other pensioners and employees had also begun.
He said some employees subsequently approached the high court, affecting the finance department’s planned schedule for releasing the payments.
Asked about the government’s next course of action, Cheema said the government was working on a solution and that the matter would be discussed with employee representatives at Thursday’s meeting.
PCS association extends support
The Punjab Civil Services (PCS) cadre has also expressed support for the protesting employees. An office-bearer of the PCS Officers’ Association said PCS officers were facing a similar situation as their DA was also pending. However, the officers had decided not to join the protest as discussions with the government were already underway.
IAS officers, who belong to the Central cadre, are reportedly receiving their payments on time.
Employees to raise multiple demands
Apart from the release of DA arrears, employee unions will raise several other demands during Thursday’s meeting. The unions are seeking implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for employees who joined government service after November 18, 2022.
The employees have also demanded rationalisation of salaries. The unions have raised objections to the government’s decision to combine allowances according to the state structure with salaries based on Central pay scales for recruitments made after July 17, 2020.
Employees recruited after January 15, 2015, are currently paid basic salary during their three-year probation period, according to the unions. They are demanding that employees be paid their full salary during probation.
Another major demand is the regularisation of contractual employees working in various government departments.
The unions are also seeking an increase in the emoluments of ASHA and Anganwadi workers, who they say have been demanding better compensation.
The employees have further demanded the complete implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.
Cong, BJP back employees’ protest
Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday backed the statewide bandh called by government employees’ unions and pensioner organisations over pending dearness allowance (DA) payments. He said all members of the Congress Legislature Party stood firmly behind employees’ legitimate demands.
“The government must immediately release the pending DA arrears, implement OPS and regularise contractual employees. The employees deserve dignity, security and justice, not court cases, confrontation and broken promises,” he said.
The Punjab BJP has also extended its support to government employees and pensioners’ call for a ‘Maha Strike’.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said the employees and pensioners have been compelled to take this step after the prolonged denial of their legitimate dues. Dhillon said the Punjab government can no longer hide behind excuses or administrative reasoning, as the matter has already been decided by the judiciary.