6th pay panel report: Employees hold pen-down strike in Amritsar, Tarn Taran

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 8

The Punjab and UT Employees and Pensioners’ Front held a protest rally at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital on Thursday and burnt the copies of the 6th Punjab Pay Commission report. The employees initiated two-day pen down strike from Thursday.

Addressing a gathering, employees’ leaders accused the state government of making false promises to employees and promoting privatisation of public sector institutes.

District president Gurdeep Singh Bajwa said recommendations of the pay panel were against the interests of employees and they will organise a state-level protest in Patiala on July 29.

They demanded that allowances, which have been decreased, should be restored to their earlier level and arrears of the dearness allowance should be released immediately. The other demands included regularisation of contractual workers, implementation of benefits granted by anomaly committee of 5th Pay Commission report.

The leaders said the protest would be further intensified in the coming days, if the government failed to respond to their demands.

The ESI Employees’ Federation also joined the protest at ESI Hospital, Majitha Road, and announced to observe pen-down strike in support of the agitating employees.

Meanwhile, the Employees’ Welfare Association at Civil Hospital has also announced to initiate pen-down strike from Friday demanding that the government consider their demands. Rakesh Sharma, chairman of the association, said: “The employees would boycott all services except emergency and Covid care from July 9 to July 11.”

6th Pay panel report a cruel joke, say staff in Tarn Taran

Tarn Taran: The normal work in offices of the state government departments was affected on Thursday due to the ‘pen-down, tool-down’ strike call given by Punjab UT Mulazam and Pensioner Sanjha Front. The strike call received massive response in the district. The employees of the Education, Health, Powercom, Irrigation, Roadways and Revenue Departments among others participated in the strike. On the first day, employees held marches and burnt the effigy of the government and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. The teachers of government schools on the call of the Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha organised protests at their respective schools against the 6th Pay Commission report. Baljinder Singh, Nachhttar Singh, Romesh Kumar Shergill and other leaders, while addressing a rally, said the pay scales were affecting the serving and the retired employees. The protesting employees burnt the effigy of Finance Minister Punjab for the alleged role in giving less scales to employees. Powercom employees and pensioners, too, lodged their protest at the circle office of the Powercom. Gurpreet Singh Mannan, Mangal Singh Tharu, Dhanwant Singh Randhawa were among others, who called the 6th Pay Commission report a cruel joke with employees. OC