The dispute between the Punjab Government and its employees over pending Dearness Allowance (DA) dues has intensified, with the issue now involving court proceedings, employee protests and a fresh round of planned agitation.
At the centre of the dispute is the employees’ demand for payment of their long-pending DA dues and the Punjab and Haryana High Court has already directed the state government to clear the pending DA, while the government is now likely to challenge the order before the Supreme Court.
At the same time, employees have announced a detailed protest programme extending into October.
Dearness Allowance is an allowance paid to government employees and pensioners to provide relief against the impact of inflation. Punjab government employees have been demanding payment of DA dues that they say have remained pending and the issue has been taken up through protests by employee organisations, with more than 150 organisations backing the August 27 statewide agitation.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its order dated August 3, directed the Punjab Government to clear the pending DA dues of government employees and the order has become an important part of the ongoing dispute, however, the Punjab Government is now likely to approach the Supreme Court against the High Court's order.
The state is expected to challenge the order within the next few days.
This means the legal aspect of the DA dispute is not over yet and will now potentially move to the Supreme Court.
Employees organised a statewide 'Maha Hartal' on August 27 over their demands, including the payment of pending DA dues and according to the employee organisations, more than 3 lakh employees and around 3.5 lakh pensioners participated in the agitation.
The strike was backed by more than 150 employee organisations.
The government has subsequently taken action regarding employee absence during the protest and administrative secretaries and heads of departments have been directed to provide details of employees who remained absent from duty without authorisation on August 27.
The government has also issued show-cause notices to employees in connection with the protest.
A meeting between protesting employee unions and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was scheduled for 1 pm in Jalandhar on August 27, however, the meeting was cancelled shortly before it was scheduled to take place.
Mann said that “dialogue and strikes cannot go together”, and that talks could take place only after the strike was withdrawn and the cancellation further widened the gap between the government and the protesting employees.
The Punjab Sanjha Mulazam Manch has given the government a deadline of September 7 to withdraw the show-cause notices issued to employees over the August 27 agitation and the employees have warned that if the notices are not withdrawn by the deadline, they will observe statewide mass casual leave on September 8
The unions have also announced several other programmes as part of the next phase of their agitation.
The employee organisations have announced a series of programmes:
September 1-7: Employees will extend support to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) farmers' protest in Chandigarh.
September 6: District-level protest gatherings will be organised across Punjab.
September 7: Deadline for the government to withdraw the show-cause notices.
September 8: Statewide mass casual leave if the notices are not withdrawn.
September 12-13: Employees plan to protest outside the residences of ministers.
September 19-20: Further protests are planned targeting remaining MLAs and ministers.
September 30: Employees will organise a symbolic assembly in Chandigarh as part of their “Satta Wapsi” or “Return of Power” campaign.
Under the planned 'Satta Wapsi' campaign, employees will hold a symbolic 'Vidhan Sabha' session in Chandigarh on September 30 and the programme will feature chairs representing MPs and MLAs, with questions directed at elected representatives. The employees have described the campaign as a symbolic attempt to highlight their demands and hold elected representatives accountable, the employees are also continuing their “Return from Secretariat to Satoj” campaign and have announced a boycott of the “From Satauj to Sansad” documentary.
The agitation is scheduled to continue into October.
A mega rally will be held in Sangrur on October 10 and this will be followed by another major statewide action. Employees have announced mass casual leave across Punjab on October 21 and 22, therefore, unless the dispute is resolved through talks or through the legal process, the announced protest calendar extends for nearly two more months.
There are currently two parallel tracks in the DA dispute.
The first is the legal track. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the government to clear the pending DA dues, and the Punjab Government is likely to challenge that order in the Supreme Court and the second is the employee agitation. Employees are demanding payment of their pending DA dues and withdrawal of notices issued in connection with the August 27 strike.
They have announced a series of protests, mass leave programmes and political demonstrations through October, for now, the immediate deadline is September 7 and if the government does not withdraw the show-cause notices by then, employees have announced statewide mass casual leave on September 8.
The next major developments will therefore depend on both the government's response to the employees' demands and the legal course it takes against the High Court's August 3 order.
