Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Sunday alleged that Punjab was facing a serious employment and service-related crisis under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, with both serving employees and unemployed youth struggling with unresolved issues.
Cheema said regular government employees were demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), payment of pending dearness allowance and other legitimate service benefits. Contractual and outsourced employees were also seeking regularisation and timely payment of salaries, while employees engaged under centrally sponsored schemes such as MGNREGA were raising concerns relating to job security, salaries and service conditions.
The SAD leader said the concerns of unemployed youth were equally serious. “Recruitment delays, changes in eligibility and age limits, examination paper leaks and allegations of irregularities in various recruitment processes had created uncertainty among thousands of aspirants,” he added.
Demanding a white paper on Punjab’s employment and recruitment situation, he said the government needed to address these issues through a comprehensive policy instead of dealing with each agitation separately.