Punjab government employees and pensioners blocked the Chandigarh-Bathinda National Highway for more than an hour on Saturday near Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Sangrur residence, escalating demands over pending dearness allowance arrears, the Old Pension Scheme and pay commission revisions.
The protesters represented more than 200 unions under the Punjab Employees and Pensioners Joint Front. After gathering near the chief minister’s residence, they moved to the Patiala-Sangrur bypass flyover, where they camped while pressing for a formal settlement on their demands.
Union representatives warned that more than three lakh employees would take statewide mass casual leave on October 21 and 22 if the Punjab government does not begin formal negotiations. District administration officials received the unions’ memorandum later in the evening, but Joint Front representatives said the proposed mass leave would continue unless an agreement was reached.
The demands include payment of pending dearness allowance and dearness relief arrears, implementation of the Old Pension Scheme, and settlement of pay commission revisions. The unions also sought restoration of the Assured Career Progression scheme, withdrawal of the Rs 200 monthly development tax, an increase in the gratuity ceiling from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, pension revision using a 2.59 multiplication factor, regularisation of contractual workers and an increase in medical allowance.
Pensioners and employees also opposed the July 2020 order prescribing central pay scales for new recruits. They said the Old Pension Scheme had received a preliminary notification in November 2022, but that standard operating procedures had not been notified. Employees appointed after 2004 therefore remained under the National Pension System, according to the Joint Front.
The protest comes amid judicial proceedings over the government’s pending dearness allowance payments. On August 3, the Punjab and Haryana high court directed the state government to clear pending instalments within two weeks and restrained it from spending on publicity campaigns until the backlog was cleared. The state government approached the Supreme Court, arguing that making the payment within a fortnight was “constitutionally impossible”. The high court later issued a criminal contempt notice to the Punjab chief secretary over defective submissions concerning the status of the appeal.
Joint Front functionary Sukhchain Singh Khaira alleged that the state government had prioritised advertising and legal delays over the dues of eight lakh serving and retired personnel. The government recently notified an 8% increase in dearness allowance, taking it to 50% from October 1. The unions described the increase as a “token gesture” and rejected the government’s proposal to clear arrears over five years.
The unions also claimed that the chief minister had personally assured their leaders that a follow-up settlement meeting would be held in the first week of October, but that the meeting did not take place. Representatives said they rejected an offer to meet the chief secretary and insisted on meeting the chief minister instead. The immediate next step is the state government’s response to the memorandum and whether it holds formal negotiations before the proposed October 21-22 mass leave.
