Water supply dept staff set to intensify stir

Angered by the suspension of allowances and denial of annual salary increments, contractual employees of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department in Punjab had announced a complete work boycott starting May 22. The protest is set to intensify with an indefinite sit-in at the department's main office in Mohali on May 28.

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The agitation is being spearheaded by the Block-Coordinator Union, Punjab, which represents staff employed under the BRC, IEC and CDS posts. Union president Jagseer Singh said the department's continued neglect of basic demands has left employees with no option but to strike.

“The contractual staff are being forced to bear field-related expenses out of their own pockets after the department abruptly stopped mobility, special and mobile allowances on April 1, 2023,” Singh said. “Even the annual salary increment for 2024-25 has not been given.”

Currently, 224 BRC, 11 IEC and 14 CDS employees are working in the department on contract. According to the union, much of their limited income is spent on travel and field visits, which are integral to their duties of promoting water supply schemes in rural areas.

The union has also demanded job regularisation, reinstatement of dismissed workers and provision of benefits such as accident insurance, medical leave, ESI and EPF. Despite repeated meetings and requests to the department, no concrete action has been taken.

Singh warned that the protest would continue indefinitely until all demands are met. “This time, work will only resume after the department accepts our demands,” he asserted. “If any harm comes to any staff member during the protest, the responsibility will lie with department officials.”

He said the dharna on May 28 will take place outside the gate of the department’s main office in Phase-2, Mohali, with the support of other allied organisations. The union has cautioned that if the deadlock continues, the agitation will be further intensified.