Pay panel report: Ministerial staff to participate in July 29 protest

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 26

Punjab State Ministerial Services’ Union has decided to participate in the protest announced by the joint front of employees in Patiala on July 29. In a meeting of the executive body of the association on Monday, the leaders of the association from the Health Department, Deputy Commissioner’s office, Treasury, Water Resources, Education, PWD, Excise, ITI, Water Supply, Local Bodies, Agriculture, Soil Conservation, Roadways, Social Security, Technical Education and Cooperatives said they would participate in the ‘Halla Bol’ rally announced by the joint front.

Docs block traffic

Supported by students, the medical faculty at GMC here took out a march to protest against the 6th Pay Commission report. The protesting teachers marched from the GMC campus to Gala Mala Chowk and formed a human chain to block traffic. The drizzling on Monday did not prove a deterrent for the agitators. “If we can fight Covid for the past almost two years, we can fight for ourselves too,” said Dr Jaspreet Singh Kauldhar, secretary, Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association. TNS

The employees’ leaders demanded that all employees be given a raise of 3.01 per cent instead of different percentage of raise for different ranks. They also demanded that a notification of the dearness allowance on the Central pattern be immediately issued.

Association general secretary Jagdish Thakur said other demands include increase in allowances, old pension scheme for employees recruited after January 1, 2014, regularisation of contractual workers, abolition of development tax on employees and release of pending dues of DA.

Manjinder Singh Sidhu, president, said: “Many demands of the employees are pending for a long time. Instead of addressing the old demands, the government has further harmed the interests of employees. The ministerial staff will participate in the July 29 protest with full strength.”