How employee protests have fared under AAP govt: Concessions, but no complete victory
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has demonstrated a pattern of granting selective concessions to employees during protests, rather than uniformly responding with yes or no. This approach is evident in several major employee agitations that took place under the AAP administration.
One such agitation was the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) protest launched in October 2022 by the Contributory Pension Employees Federation Union (CPFEU) and the Purani Pension Bahali Sangharsh Committee. The unions threatened to extend their campaign to other states if the Punjab government failed to act. The government responded by issuing a notification for the implementation of OPS in November 2022, but nearly four years later, the implementation remains pending.
Another protest that garnered attention was the 40-day ministerial strike initiated by the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union (PSMSU) in November 2023. The main demands included the release of pending DA arrears and the implementation of OPS. After 40 days of the strike, the union representatives met with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, leading to the release of one instalment of 4% DA for July 2022, but subsequent instalments from January 2023 onwards remain unpaid.
Power engineers also engaged in an agitation, which saw the suspension of Chief Engineer Harish Kumar Sharma and Director Commercial Harjeet Singh being revoked after about two months. However, the agitation continued among outsourced power-sector workers, who protested outside PSPCL headquarters in Patiala, demanding regularisation.
Sanitation workers achieved significant gains, with the government raising the monthly wages for workers engaged in hazardous work and sewer maintenance to Rs 20,520. Additionally, regularisation was granted for contractual employees who had completed five years of service, though workers had demanded a monthly wage of Rs 40,000, significantly higher than the basic salary of other government employees.
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