Hoshiarpur/Ferozepur, Sep 8 (PTI) Government employees of several departments on Tuesday went on a pen-down strike against the Punjab government over various long-pending demands, including the release of their pending dearness allowance.
Under the banner of the Punjab Sanjha Mulazam Manch, they also held protests at their respective officers at the district level and boycotted official work by shutting down their computers.
The employees went on the pen-down strike despite Cabinet Minister Aman Arora on Monday saying the proposed employees’ strike was “illegal” and warned of action if the public faced inconvenience.
The pen-down strike was observed at government offices across the state, including directorates in Chandigarh, while ministerial staff of various departments also participated in the agitation.
In Hoshiarpur, employees’ union district president Anirudh Modgil and district senior vice-president Deepak Trihan and other protesters raised slogans against the state government and criticised its policies.
Modgil alleged that the government withheld 18 per cent dearness allowance (DA), Assured Career Progression (ACP) benefits and other allowances of employees.
Modgil said that as per a decision of the Joint Coordination Committee, employees would start ‘gheraoing’ Punjab ministers from September 12.
In Ferozepur, employees of various government departments staged a protest at the District Administrative Complex (DAC) against the state government Pippal Singh, district president, Punjab State Ministerial Services Union said the government had been giving assurances regarding their demands for a long time, but no concrete action had been taken to resolve the issues.
“The government had promised restoration of the Old Pension Scheme in its election manifesto. Though a notification regarding the OPS has been issued, the complete procedure and necessary conditions for its implementation had not yet been clarified”, said Singh adding that the employees recruited subsequently had been kept under the new pension system.
The union members warned that their agitation would continue until the government took concrete steps to address their demands.
The strike caused inconvenience to the general public as government offices remained affected. People who had travelled from distant villages to the DC office to get their work done were forced to return without their work being completed.
A deadlock began on August 27 when over 3 lakh government employees went on a statewide strike, pressing the state government to accept their various demands, including the release of their pending 18 per cent DA.
A meeting between the Punjab Chief Minister and the representatives of employees’ bodies could not take place on August 27 as Bhagwant Mann made it clear that talks with them could only be held if they call off their strike.
On September 4, the Punjab government announced to raise the DA of around 85,000 government employees recruited after July 17, 2020 from 42 per cent to 60 per cent.
The decision covers employees recruited under the post-2020 regime whose pay is based on the central government’s 7th Pay Commission pattern.
However, it will not benefit employees recruited before July 17, 2020.
But, employees remained adamant on their demand for clearance of DA arrears as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Punjab government had moved the Supreme Court challenging a high court order directing it to release all pending dearness allowance and dearness relief dues to state employees and pensioners within a fortnight, contending that the direction to pay arrears totalling around Rs 14,191 crore in such a short period was constitutionally impossible. PTI COR CHS NB NB
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