Punjab government employees strike disrupts public services as OPD services remain affected statewide

Public services across several Punjab government departments were disrupted on Thursday as more than three lakh employees joined a statewide strike to press for the acceptance of longpending demands including the release of pending dearness allowanceOutpatient department OPD services at several government hospitals were also affected while government offices and educational institutions in some districts reported thin attendance after employees took mass casual leaveMore than 150 employees bodies operating under the banner of the Punjab Sanjha Mulazam Manch joined the statewide ldquomaha hartalrdquo Employees organisations said over 350 lakh pensioners were also participating in the agitationThe strike is being seen as one of the largest employee mobilisations against the Bhagwant Mannled government particularly ahead of the Punjab Assembly electionsMann says talks possible only after strike is called offChief Minister Bhagwant Mann who was earlier scheduled to meet representatives of employees bodies in Jalandhar to discuss their concerns said the government would hold talks only after the strike was withdrawnEmployees are an important part of our family and we are ready to listen to every legitimate concern they have But dialogue and strike cannot proceed together The government is committed to resolving every issue but dialogue will only take place once the strike is called off Mann said in a post on XGovernment offices across the state either remained largely deserted or reported very thin attendance as employees stayed away from workProtesting employees also held demonstrations at district headquarters and other locations raising slogans against the state government and demanding an early resolution of their issuesOPD services and elective surgeries affectedGovernmentrun health services were among those affected by the strikeEmployees organisations said OPD services at several government hospitals remained suspended causing inconvenience to patients The state governments Aam Aadmi Clinics also remained closed in FerozepurIn Hoshiarpur the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association supported the protest by boycotting OPD services at Civil Hospital Hoshiarpur and community health centres across the districtPCMSA district president Dr Kultar Singh and general secretary Dr Muneesh Kumar said elective surgeries had been postponed due to the protestHowever emergency services maternity and child care emergency surgeries admission and treatment of patients already in hospital medicolegal work postmortemrelated duties and medicolegal examinations continued as usual they saidDoctors also held a demonstration at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar One of the protesters said OPD services had been suspended while emergency services continued to operateSchools and government college see low attendanceGovernment schools in Hoshiarpur district remained closed as teachers and clerical staff joined the mass casual leave according to Jasveer Singh Talwara convenor of the Purani Pension Bahali Sangharsh Committee Punjab and secretary of the Government Teachers Union PunjabThe Government College Hoshiarpur also witnessed thin student attendance after almost all regular teaching and clerical staff joined the protest Government College Teachers Association president Amrit Samra saidAd hoc staff however remained on dutyEmployees from several government departments in Hoshiarpur including the Deputy Commissioners office SDM and tehsil offices education irrigation public works horticulture agriculture health industries water supply and sanitation excise and treasury departments participated in the strikeA protest rally was held outside the District Administrative Complex where employees raised slogans in support of their demands and accused the government of delaying their resolutionProtests held across PunjabIn Ferozepur protesters took out a motorcycle rally from Saragarhi Gurdwara The rally passed through several markets and localities in Ferozepur city and the Cantonment before moving through other parts of the cityProtesters raised antigovernment slogans during the rallySimilar demonstrations were reported from Ludhiana Phagwara and Jalandhar among other places Stateowned bus services however remained operational during the strikeRavinder Luthra a member of the Retired Pensioners Union accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of failing to fulfil promises made to employees before the electionsBefore the elections the government promised the moon to employees It had promised restoration of the old pension scheme an end to outsourcing and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission among other demands So much time has passed but the government appears to have forgotten its promises he saidEmployees press for DA pension and regularisation demandsThe protesting employees are demanding the release of the pending 18 per cent dearness allowance implementation of the Old Pension Scheme and regularisation of contractual employeesThey alleged that the state government had failed to release pending dearness allowance instalments and arrears despite directions from the Punjab and Haryana High CourtOther demands include the implementation of minimum wages for workers including midday meal ASHA and Anganwadi workers restoration of the ACP scheme and extension of Punjab pay scales to employees recruited after July 17 2020Employees bodies said they would continue to press the government for the resolution of their demands while the state government has maintained that dialogue can take place once the strike is withdrawnWith inputs from PTI