CHANDIGARH: Over three lakh Punjab govt employees took mass casual leave on Wednesday over pending demands, disrupting work across govt offices. Talks with the state govt failed to break the deadlock, with employees deciding to continue their two-day protest on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers’ Union extended its statewide strike indefinitely, affecting bus services.Employee representatives met chief secretary KAP Sinha at 4 pm after the govt released minutes of an earlier meeting with chief minister Bhagwant Mann, as demanded by unions. However, the nearly two-hour meeting remained inconclusive.Sukhchain Singh Khaira, coordinator of the Joint Action Committee leading the agitation, said work across govt offices, including directorates, was affected. Sahil Sharma, general secretary of the Punjab Civil Secretariat Employees Union, alleged the govt was delaying a resolution by asking unions to reiterate demands already raised in previous meetings.A 39-member delegation of employees and pensioners later met officials but said it received no clear assurances on several demands. They said the govt had clarified that temporary teachers described as regularised had only been given “security of tenure”, without the financial benefits available to regular employees. The delegation also said the govt had no roadmap for Anganwadi, ASHA and mid-day meal workers.The future course of the agitation will be decided at a meeting in Ludhiana on Oct 25. Employees are demanding release of pending dearness allowance (DA) instalments and arrears, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), regularisation of contractual staff, revision of pensions, restoration of 37 discontinued allowances and the cashless health scheme. They have also sought withdrawal of notifications imposing central pay scales and a three-year probation period.The standoff continues despite a Sept 18 meeting between Mann and employee and pensioner representatives, when the chief minister announced an 8% DA hike in two instalments of 4% each from Oct 1 and promised regular monthly meetings.Meanwhile, transport workers extended their strike after talks with a cabinet minister failed to resolve demands for regularisation under service rules, direct departmental contracts for outsourced workers and withdrawal of police cases linked to earlier protests.Union general secretary Shamsher Singh said proposals covering around 1,400 outsourced Punjab Roadways employees and more than 1,700 PRTC workers remained pending. A Sept 21 govt letter had set a one-month deadline to shift workers from outsourcing agencies to direct contracts, but it passed without implementation, he said. A proposal to withdraw cases had also been sent to the Punjab DGP, but no further action had followed despite workers securing bail.The union plans a joint demonstration with Theka Mulazam Sangharsh Morcha in Dirba, the constituency of transport and finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema. Workers from all 27 depots and two sub-depots plan to assemble in Mohali and march towards Punjab Vidhan Sabha and the chief minister’s official residence.Union representatives alleged that shortages of spare parts and tyres had grounded several buses and criticised PRTC management for issuing show-cause notices and termination warnings. However, PRTC GM Operations A S Tiwana said more than 800 of the corporation’s 1,250 buses operated on Wednesday. He said management had proposed bringing around 1,719 outsourced employees under contractual terms.Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh called the mass leave a sign of a deepening crisis of confidence between the Mann govt and its employees. He demanded immediate talks and time-bound solutions, accusing the govt of prioritising publicity over public grievances.
