Government employees across Punjab stayed away from work on Wednesday as part of a two-day mass casual leave agitation, disrupting administrative functioning in several districts.
The protesters are demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS), release of pending dearness allowance (DA) instalments and arrears, regularisation of contractual workers and fulfilment of other long-pending demands.
The agitation, organised under the banner of the Punjab Employees and Pensioners’ Joint Front and the Joint Employees’ Platform Punjab, witnessed demonstrations at district administrative complexes and tehsil offices. Nearly three-lakh employees reportedly participated in the mass leave programme, according to Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh.
Pargat criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, saying the large-scale participation reflected growing dissatisfaction among government employees. He urged the government to address their grievances through dialogue rather than allowing the situation to escalate.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also extended its support to the two-day statewide strike by government employees. Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon accused the AAP government of being anti-employee, alleging that it had neglected employees’ concerns for the past four-and-a-half years.
In the Doaba region, employees staged protests in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts. Many wore black badges to register their opposition to the government’s alleged failure to honour its commitments.
{{/usCountry}}In the Doaba region, employees staged protests in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts. Many wore black badges to register their opposition to the government’s alleged failure to honour its commitments.
{{/usCountry}}Tejinder Singh Nangal, an activist of the Joint Coordination Committee, alleged that the government had failed to resolve employees’ concerns despite meetings with representatives. He said the OPS remained unimplemented despite a notification and also raised concerns over the non-implementation of the Punjab and Haryana high court’s decision regarding DA.
In Hoshiarpur, the Sanjhi Talmel Committee organised a rally outside the district administrative complex. The protesters demanded revision of pension benefits using a multiplication factor of 2.59, regularisation of temporary and outsourced employees and removal of anomalies in the Pay Commission’s report.
Their demands also included regularisation of mid-day meal, anganwadi and ASHA workers, restoration of 37 discontinued allowances, withdrawal of notifications concerning central pay scales and the three-year probation period, and restoration of the cashless health scheme.
Employee and pensioner leaders accused the state government of neglecting their concerns and prioritising publicity over resolving public grievances.
In Bathinda and other districts of the south Malwa region, clerical staff remained absent from offices, affecting routine government services and inconveniencing people visiting district headquarters.
The unions warned of intensifying their protests if the government failed to initiate meaningful dialogue and take concrete steps to fulfil their demands.
(With PTI inputs)