A panel meeting was held under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Harpal Cheema at the Civil Secretariat, with the participation of officials from the Sarv Sikhiya Abhiyan Mid Day Meal, office staff, and special educators. Cabinet Sub-Committee member, Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal, was also present at the meeting. Officials from the Finance, Personnel, and Education departments were present as well.
The leader informed that a review of the meeting held on December 9, 2024, was conducted, and officials were asked for an update on the status of regularization and salary cuts. As the officials failed to provide clear information, the Finance Minister instructed them sternly to immediately present the files on regularization and salary cuts.
The leader further mentioned that the Chief Minister had given approval for the regularization of office staff on April 21, 2022, and the Cabinet Sub-Committee had approved it on March 14, 2024. During the March 14 meeting, the Finance Minister had ordered that an affidavit be submitted by the union to the DGSE. However, despite this, the employees were not regularized.
During the meeting, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema ordered that a meeting be held immediately by the officer committee, consisting of officials from the Finance, Personnel, and Education departments, to regularize 8,886 teachers in line with the previous decisions, and to submit a report. He also directed the Finance Secretary to immediately take action on the file regarding the salary cuts of 5,000 office staff and the salary increase of mid-day meal staff.
While issuing a press statement, leaders of the Sarv Sikhiya Abhiyan Mid Day Meal Office Staff Union and Special Educators Union, including Kuldeep Singh, Rajinder Singh Sandha, Praveen Sharma, Ramesh Saharan, Jagmohan Singh, Chamkor Singh, and Narinder Kumar, stated that after the Chief Minister’s decision, the Cabinet Sub-Committee had directed the officials four times to regularize temporary employees and address salary cuts, but officials from the Finance Department were deliberately complicating the issue.
The leaders stated that the government’s agenda was to ensure that no employee remained temporary in the state, but more than two years had passed, and instead of solving the issues, the officials were creating complications.
The leaders further stated that the office staff’s strike had entered its 23rd day, and the employees had made it clear that they were not afraid of threats of non-attendance and would continue their struggle until their demands were met.
The leader added that today, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema had sternly instructed the officials and assured a meeting with the union on January 7, 2025. The leaders emphasized that if the officials failed to take immediate action on the issues, the employees would be forced to block the main office of the Education Department and shut it down completely.