Chandigarh: Ahead of the Assembly polls, Punjab government employees and pensioners on Thursday rejected Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s announcement of a 3 per cent dearness allowance (DA) hike, saying the hike is inadequate, and announced a month-long agitation from November 13.
The decision was announced by the Joint Coordination Committee of Employee and Pensioner Unions, which represents nearly four lakh government employees and 3.5 lakh pensioners.
The agitation will begin with an indefinite sit-in in Sangrur town from November 13 to 19. The unions have also decided to shift their protest venue from Chandigarh to Sangrur.
As part of the protest programme, employees and pensioners will stage demonstrations outside the residences of all 91 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in their respective constituencies from December 1 to 5. They will also burn effigies of the ruling party.
On December 6, the protesters plan to immerse the “ashes” of the effigies in the Budha Nullah in Ludhiana. The month-long agitation will culminate in a proposed human chain from Shambhu to Amritsar on December 13.
Union leaders Sukhchain Khera and Gurnam Singh Virk said the latest DA announcement had failed to address the principal demands of employees and pensioners. They maintained that the agitation would continue until the government fulfilled its commitments and resolved all outstanding issues.
The unions are demanding implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), release of the remaining 10 per cent DA, payment of pending DA arrears, implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and restoration of old pay scales and allowances.
They have also sought withdrawal of government policies and decisions that, according to them, adversely affect employees’ service conditions.
Chief Minister Mann had announced a three per cent hike in DA on Wednesday, describing it as a Diwali gift for government employees and pensioners.
With the latest increase, the DA rate has gone up to 53 per cent. The enhanced allowance is expected to benefit around four lakh employees and 3.5 lakh pensioners. The government has said the increase will be reflected in November salaries and pensions, payable in December.
However, the unions have argued that increasing the DA rate alone does not resolve the issue of accumulated arrears and other pending demands.
Union representatives also challenged the government’s claims regarding outstanding DA instalments and the financial benefits extended to employees.
The latest confrontation comes despite the government’s claim that it has increased DA by 11 percentage points over the past two months, including an eight per cent hike announced earlier.