Punjab DA news update: Employees of the Punjab ministerial office called off their pen-down strike after assurance from Chief Secretary KAP Sinha that show-cause notices seeking disciplinary action against those who participated in the 27 August mass leave protest will be withdrawn, PTI reported.
This comes following talks between the Punjab Sanjha Mulzam Manch and Sinha on Wednesday (9 September), where he assured them that the show-cause notices will be withdrawn, the employees' representatives said.
Notably, protesting employees had on Tuesday threatened to extend their pen-down strike till 11 September, while the Punjab state government warned of “no work, no pay”, the report added.
Mass leave protest on 27 August: What happened?
More than three lakh employees across the state went on mass leave on 27 August as part of their protest pushing for pending 18% Dearness Allowance (DA) payments and other demands. However, the Punjab government said these leaves were “unauthorised” and directed department heads to issue show-cause notices for disciplinary action.
The Manch representatives said assurance from Sinha “is a small victory for employees”. Notably, the pen-down strike, which began from Tuesday, has adversely affected the administrative work in government offices in the state, the report said.
Key demands from Punjab state government employees include — payment of pending 18% DA, implementation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), regularisation of contractual employees, 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 17 July 2020.
More than 150 employee groups presented a united front as the Manch, and over 3.50 lakh pensioners supported the “maha hartal” on 27 August.
Punjab announces DA hike for 85,000 employees
Notably, on September 4, the Punjab government proposed hiking DA from 42% to 60% for 85,000 state government employees who were recruited after 17 July 2020. Making the announcement, state Cabinet Minister Aman Arora said his will be done to “bring their DA in line with the central pay pattern” as those recruited under the post-2020 regime have basic pay based on the Centre's 7th Pay Commission pattern, but DA is based on the state's pay pattern.
Arora claimed that the decision aims to address salary disparity between employees recruited before July 2020 and are covered under Punjab's historically higher pay structure, and those recruited later under the central pay pattern, at lower salaries.
However, employees remained adamant on their demand for clearance of DA arrears as per directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) — an order that the state had challenged in the Supreme Court. It has contended that the direction to pay arrears totalling around ₹14,191 crore in such a short period (fortnight) was impossible.
