More than 300,000 government employees and over 400,000 pensioners in Punjab are set to participate in a one-day statewide strike on August 27 over various pending demands.
The strike has been called under the banner of the Sanjha Mulazim Manch Punjab and UT and according to the organisation, government employees across different departments will remain on mass leave, resulting in disruption of government services across the state.
The strike is expected to affect work at several government establishments, including the Punjab Civil Secretariat, schools, patwar khanas or revenue offices, hospital OPDs and other government offices and employees working in treasury offices will also participate in the strike.
However, the organisation has clarified that August 27 will not be a 'Punjab Bandh'. Sanjha Mulazim Manch president Sukhchain Singh Khaira said there would be no road blockades or restrictions on the movement of the general public and according to Khaira, private establishments, markets and shops will continue to function normally.
The employees' action will be limited to government departments and offices. He also said that the employees would not create any inconvenience for the public.
Khaira appealed to people not to visit government offices on August 27 for routine work, as employees will remain on mass leave and government work will remain suspended at several offices.
The organisation has also informed the Election Commission about the strike. Khaira said employees who have been assigned duties related to SIR (Special Summary Revision) will also be on mass leave on August 27 and he said the union has formally written to the Election Commission regarding the matter and informed it that employees assigned to SIR-related duties would participate in the strike.
According to Khaira, these employees should not be compelled to perform their duties on the day of the strike.
The employees' front has also issued directions regarding treasury work.
Khaira advised government departments not to submit bills to treasury offices on August 27 or even on the preceding day and treasury employees are also expected to participate in the one-day strike, which could affect the processing of bills.
The organisation has asked departments to take this into account while handling their financial work around the strike date.
Sunil Kumar, Chief Advisor of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union, said government office work would remain halted during the strike and he said employees and pensioners had decided to participate in the one-day mega-strike as their demands were still pending with the Punjab government, according to Kumar, effigies of the government will also be burnt at the district level during the protest.
The employees' organisations have alleged that the Punjab government has been delaying action on their demands.
The strike has therefore been planned as a collective show of protest by government employees and pensioners across the state.
Khaira also clarified that the strike is not being organised over the issue of Dearness Allowance (DA).
He said employees had already secured the DA through court orders and that the government is bound to implement those orders and according to him, the employees' focus now is on ensuring that the court orders related to DA are implemented.
Khaira said the employees would continue to put pressure on the government to comply with the orders.
A meeting between the Sajha Mulazim Front and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is also scheduled for August 27.
Khaira said the meeting would not be restricted to one particular issue. Instead, the employees' representatives are expected to raise their various pending demands before the Chief Minister and the one-day strike and the scheduled meeting are both taking place on August 27, making the day significant for the ongoing discussions between the Punjab government and employee organisations.
The employees' front has maintained that the August 27 action is a strike by government employees and pensioners, rather than a statewide shutdown, so there will be no road blockades, markets and private establishments will remain open, and the general public will be free to move around as usual.