Chandigarh, The Punjab government said on Monday evening that the proposed employees’ strike on Tuesday is “illegal” and warned of action if the public faced inconvenience.
The statement of Industry Minister Aman Arora came ahead of the government employees’ call to proceed on mass casual leave on Tuesday. He affirmed that any inconvenience caused to the public would compel the government to take requisite action in accordance with law. Because the matter related to the dearness allowance is already sub-judice before the Supreme Court, in a statement on Monday, Minister Arora said the proposed employee strike is illegal.
He further said the government has already addressed the DA demand of around 85,000 employees recruited after July 17, 2020 by deciding to increase their DA from 42 to 60 per cent. The decision covers employees recruited under the post-2020 regime, whose pay is based on the central government’s 7th Pay Commission pattern.
The minister appealed to the employees not to become “political tools” and said that while the Bhagwant Mann government stands firmly with its employees and remains committed to resolving their genuine concerns through dialogue, it also has an equal responsibility towards the three crore Punjabis and cannot allow disruption of essential public services. “We appeal to employees to raise their concerns through the appropriate channels and not resort to an illegal strike, while ensuring that employee interests are protected without compromising Punjab’s financial stability and the rights of the people to uninterrupted public services,” Arora said. The broader issue of DA and arrears is also before the Supreme Court and the state government will abide by the decision of the apex court, said Arora.
