Punjab government moves to act against employees absent during Maha Hartal

The Punjab government has taken disciplinary action against employees who were absent from work on August 27, during the statewide 'Maha Hartal'. Administrative secretaries and heads of departments have been instructed to issue show-cause notices to those found to have been absent without authorization. This action comes ahead of a meeting of over 150 employee and pensioner organizations in Ludhiana to decide the next steps of their agitation over pending matters such as Dearness Allowance (DA) instalments, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), and other long-standing service demands.

On August 27, more than three lakh government employees and over 3.5 lakh pensioners had participated in a mass casual leave protest. The government's decision to act against absentee employees has heightened tensions with employee organizations, which argue that the mass leave was authorized. The employee organizations are considering intensifying their protests at a meeting in Ludhiana on Sunday, seeking issues such as minimum wages for certain workers, restoration of the Assured Career Progression (ACP) scheme, and implementation of the Punjab pay scales for recent recruits.