CHANDIGARH: A statewide strike by Punjab government employees, the ‘Maha Hartal’, today intensified as they pressed the AAP-led state government to accept their demands, including the release of pending dearness allowance.
The agitation is set to intensify further after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann cancelled a meeting with representatives of various employee unions scheduled to be held in Jalandhar this afternoon.
Due to the strike, functioning has already been affected in various government departments, while OPD services in hospitals have also been hit.
Ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, the scale of the planned agitation presents a significant political challenge for the AAP-led state government, with around 7.50 lakh employees and pensioners participating. The protest has the potential to influence nearly 38 lakh voters when their families are taken into account.
Over 150 employees’ bodies under the banner of Punjab Sanjha Mulazam Manch have joined hands for the ‘Maha Hartal’ to press the state government to accept their long-pending demands.
Now, there is a standoff between government employees and the state government in Jalandhar amid the strike, as a 16-member representative committee of employees had gone to meet CM Mann at PAP in Jalandhar over their pending dearness allowance (DA) dues and demand for the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme.
When the meeting was about to begin, Mann categorically said that he would hold talks with striking employees only when they ended their strike. In a post on X, he said that the protesting employees are part of the family, but talks and protest cannot go together.
Mann said that the government is duty-bound to address all the issues of the protesting employees. However, talks will take place only after the employees end their protest.
This angered the union leaders, who announced that they would take their protest to the streets. Angry protests were also witnessed at the Punjab Secretariat here.
Manjeet Singh and Alka Chopra, representatives of the employees’ union in the Punjab Civil Secretariat, said talks were underway with the union representatives who were visiting Jalandhar to meet CM Mann at PAP Jalandhar. “We are planning to go on a strike for an indefinite period if the government does not initiate talks and settle the grievances,” they said.
It is learnt that employees across departments would proceed on mass casual leave.
Navpreet Singh, president of the Government Teachers’ Employees Union, announced that they would block BMC Chowk indefinitely until the CM gave their representatives a hearing.
As CM Mann refused to meet the representatives of the employees’ unions, the employees raised anti-government slogans and started moving out of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Jalandhar.
The Punjab Police tried to stop them at the main gate by parking police buses and anti-riot vehicles. But the employees scaled walls and used alternate gates to come out and were stopped about 50 metres from the DC office.
In the meantime, CM Mann was safely moved from the PAP complex to his residence in Old Baradari.
Over four lakh government employees and lakhs of pensioners are observing the ‘Maha Hartal’ to pressure the AAP government to clear their long-pending dearness allowance (DA) dues.
According to employees’ bodies, government schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and other healthcare facilities’ OPDs, except emergency services, in government-run hospitals remained suspended, and government offices did not function.
At some government departments in districts, there was a thin presence of employees. However, state-owned bus services remained operational.
In Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, doctors held a demonstration in support of their demands. One of the protesters at the hospital said OPD services were suspended, but emergency services were operational.
The Punjab Civil Medical Services Association, a body of government doctors, also joined the strike call, a protesting employee said in Hoshiarpur. Similarly, OPD services in a government health facility in Hoshiarpur were also suspended. One of the doctors said the OPD services would remain suspended from 8 am to 2 pm.
According to government employees, there was a strike at the Civil Secretariat, directorates, deputy commissioner offices, Sub-Divisional Magistrate offices and Tehsil offices.
Additionally, employees of other departments, including health, transport, revenue and education, also took part in the strike. However, the employees did not block roads during the protest.
The protesting employees have been demanding the release of pending 18 per cent dearness allowance (DA), the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and regularisation of contractual employees. They said that despite repeated assurances, the state government “failed” to address their long-pending demands.
They alleged that the government failed to release 18 per cent dearness allowance (DA) instalments and arrears despite directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They are also demanding the implementation of minimum wages for workers, including mid-day meal, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, restoration of the ACP scheme, and extension of Punjab pay scales to employees recruited after July 17, 2020.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa slammed the AAP government over the strike. “The ‘Maha Hartal’ being observed today by Punjab’s government employees is a powerful reminder of how badly the @AAPPunjab government has betrayed those who once welcomed it with flowers,” Bajwa said on X.
“Today, these employees are forced to take to the streets and approach the courts to secure their legitimate rights. Their demands for pending DA arrears, implementation of OPS and regularisation are genuine,” he said, adding that the Punjab Congress stands firmly with employees and pensioners in their struggle.