Punjab Government Employees’ Mass Strike: Why Offices Shut, But No Complete Punjab Bandh? CM to Meet Unions at 1 PM

August 27, 2026

Chandigarh: Government services across Punjab were impacted on Thursday as over three lakh employees of almost all departments, boards and corporations went on a mass casual leave for a day over non-payment of dearness allowance (DA) arrears and other long-pending demands.

The employees, joined by nearly four lakh pensioners, are staging day-long sit-in protests at government offices at the district, tehsil and block levels.

The impact of the “Maha Hartal” was also seen in government hospitals, dispensaries and educational institutions. However, markets, private establishments, private and public transport buses, and emergency services have been exempted from the shutdown.

Why Are Punjab Government Employees on Strike?

According to employee unions, DA arrears of Rs 20,161 crore are pending. Of this, Rs 6,000 crore has been pending since 2021, while another Rs 14,161 crore is pending from before 2021, the year the AAP government came to power.

Employees are currently receiving DA at 42 per cent of basic pay, while they claim it should be 58 per cent.

The employees have taken mass casual leave and are holding protests over the pending DA arrears and other long-standing demands.

Why No Complete Punjab Bandh?

Despite the large-scale strike, the protest is not a complete Punjab bandh.

Markets, private establishments, private and public transport buses, and emergency services have been kept outside the shutdown. The strike is primarily affecting government departments and services, along with government hospitals, dispensaries and educational institutions.

The Sanjha Mulazim Manch Punjab had earlier announced that drivers and conductors of government buses would also participate in the strike. However, following a meeting with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday, they decided against joining the strike, citing the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

Drivers assigned to chauffeur government officials across Punjab, however, are participating in the strike, which is expected to affect the movement of officials.

Finance Minister Meets Employee Unions

A day ahead of the strike, state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who heads the Cabinet Sub-Committee constituted to resolve employee issues, held a series of meetings with multiple employee unions in Chandigarh.

“The Bhagwant Mann government is deeply sympathetic to your causes. Action on most of your major demands is already under process,” he said at the meeting.

Cheema also issued directives to the Transport Department, Education Department, Animal Husbandry Department and Finance Department, asking them to consider the legitimate demands of employee unions with utmost sympathy and expedite the necessary action for their resolution.

CM Bhagwant Mann to Meet Unions at 1 PM

Amid the strike, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will meet leaders of employee unions later on Thursday at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) complex in Jalandhar to discuss their demands and attempt to resolve the issue.

However, employee unions have maintained that the strike will continue throughout the day irrespective of the outcome of the meeting.

Earlier this month, Cheema had said the government inherited a Rs 14,191 crore liability related to employees’ pay commission arrears. He said the government had already cleared more than Rs 6,000 crore under a High Court-approved liquidation plan and remained committed to paying all constitutionally and legally valid dues.

Cheema had said the employee pay commission report was originally formulated in 2016 during the tenure of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government but remained unimplemented for years.

“The report was implemented only in July 2021. As a result, dearness allowance (DA) arrears from January 1, 2016, to July 2021 were frozen, creating a liability of Rs 14,191 crore,” he had said.

Punjab HC Orders Clearance of DA Arrears

Cheema’s reaction came after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 3 directed the state government to clear the pending DA arrears within 15 days. The court also restrained the state from undertaking a large-scale advertisement campaign until the dues were paid.

“Till all such dues are cleared, the state of Punjab shall not resort to any unproductive expenditures such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media as these expenses cannot justify the denial of dues admissible to state employees,” the High Court had observed.

The mass strike has therefore put the pending DA arrears and other employee demands at the centre of attention, with the government and employee unions set to hold further discussions during the Chief Minister’s meeting in Jalandhar.