Chandigarh
 
The standoff between the Punjab Government and its employees eased on Wednesday as employee organisations called off their pen-down strike after the government agreed to withdraw the August 27 order declaring their mass leave “unauthorised” and the subsequent action proposed against them, including the ‘no work, no pay’ directive. The decision followed an hour-long meeting between Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and employee representatives, who were also assured that no coercive action would be taken. A meeting with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is now expected to take up the employees’ long-pending service and financial demands.
 
The breakthrough came after the employees had threatened to continue their agitation through mass leave till September 11. What had initially been announced as a one-day strike for September 8 was extended after talks failed to produce an agreement, affecting work in the Punjab Civil Secretariat and other government offices.
 
The employees had made withdrawal of the August 27 order their key condition for talks. According to the union leaders, the government had issued the letter after the August 27 protest, proposing action against around 2,500 employees for their absence and treating the mass leave as “unauthorised”.
 
The government had, a day before, further escalated the confrontation by invoking the ‘no work, no pay’ principle against employees participating in the strike and warning of departmental action for unauthorised absence.
 
The Personnel Department had said that complaints were being received that some employees marked their attendance in the morning and subsequently left offices without permission, causing inconvenience to the public. It directed departments to treat unauthorised absence as a service violation, deny salary for the period employees did not work, and initiate disciplinary proceedings under the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules where required.
 
Following Wednesday’s meeting, the government agreed to withdraw the two letters/notices, easing the immediate confrontation.
 
Sanjha Mullazam Manch convener Sukhchain Singh Khera announced the withdrawal of the strike but made it clear that the settlement was limited to action against protesting employees.
 
He said the employees had succeeded in getting assurances on withdrawal of both government communications and had also secured a commitment for an early meeting with the Chief Minister. However, he maintained that their substantive demands had not been settled.
 
Khera said the employees were seeking the release of the pending 18 percent dearness allowance (DA) instalments and arrears for employees and pensioners, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in place of the NPS, regularisation of contractual, outsourced and temporary workers, restoration of the Assured Career Progression scheme and removal of pay and allowance anomalies.
 
They are also seeking full benefits of Punjab’s old and revised pay scales for employees recruited after July 17, 2020, minimum wages for honorarium-based workers, including Grade-C level workers and Anganwadi workers, and settlement of pending financial and court-related benefits of pensioners.
 
Chief Secretary KAP Sinha said employee representatives had met him and agreed not to prolong the strike. He indicated that the notices issued to employees would be withdrawn once the protest was called off.
 
Employee representatives Sahil Sharma and Alka Chopra were among those who attended the meeting with Sinha. Earlier, talks with Principal Secretary General (Administration) KK Yadav on Tuesday had remained inconclusive, prompting the employees to extend their protest.
 
For the government, withdrawal of the strike removes an immediate disruption to public services while retaining its stated position on discipline and attendance. For the unions, the rollback is a tactical step linked to withdrawal of punitive action, while their broader demands remain to be negotiated with the Chief Minister.
 
Khera said the unions would closely watch implementation of the assurances. The employees’ wider agitation on their original demands is scheduled for September 12-13, keeping the pressure on the government despite Wednesday’s settlement on the immediate dispute.

•           Strike called off after talks with Chief Secretary
•           Aug 27 “unauthorised leave” order to be withdrawn
•           ‘No work, no pay’ letter also to be withdrawn
•           No coercive action against employees assured
•           CM Mann to meet unions soon
•           Core demands remain unresolved; protest planned for Sep 12-13