Employees, pensioners union block Bathinda-Chandigarh NH

The long-pending demands of the employees, pensioners union which blocked the Bathinda-Chandigarh nationa highway are regularisation and payment of dearness allowance to pensioners

Bathinda Hundreds of protesting activists of Punjab-UT Employees and Pensioners Joint Front blocked the main intersection on the National Highway in Bathinda for nearly two hours. Protesters demanded the Punjab government accept their long-pending demands, including regularisation of casual employees, in different government departments and payment of dearness allowance to pensioners.

Members of the employees, pensioners union blocking the NH; they claimed that the Punjab government had failed to protect their interests. The protest cause inconvenience to commuters. (HT Photo)

Earlier, the Front leadership had announced that they would sit ona dharna near the Bathinda office of Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Police were waiting at the venue, with the protesters changing their plan at the last moment. Instead, while holding the protest march, they reached the Bhai Ghaniyya Chowk and blocked traffic on the NH.

The dharna caused inconvenience to commuters on the NH leading from Bathinda to Chandigarh, Fazilka and Jalandhar-Amritsar. Protesters lifted the dharna only after two hours, about 5.30pm. The agitation led to long queues of private vehicles, trucks and public transport.

Leader of the protesting group Prem Chawla gave a call to oppose the Congress in the forthcoming assembly polls as chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had failed miserably to protests the interests of the government employees. He charged state finance minister Manpreet with creating hurdles in the implementation of financial welfare policies in true spirit.