Employees and pensioners from across Faridkot district staged a protest outside the residence of Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Sunday, raising slogans in support of their long-pending demands. They also warned of a state-level protest in Chandigarh on July 17.
Allegations Against AAP Government
Addressing the gathering, leaders of various employee and pensioner organisations alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party had come to power in the 2022 Assembly elections after making big promises to employees and pensioners, but, despite four and a half years having passed, the government had failed to fulfil any of its major demands. They alleged that several existing benefits had also been curtailed since the party’s leaders assumed office.
Key Demands Raised
The coordination committee demanded the release of the pending instalment of Dearness Allowance, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, regularisation of contractual employees, and the withdrawal of what they termed “anti-employee notifications”. Gurnam Singh Virk, state president of the DC Office Employees Union, and Harpreet Singh, a leader of PowerCom’s Technical Services Union, said the government had been ignoring the demands of employees and pensioners for a long time.
Warning of Escalation
They said, before coming to power, the AAP had claimed that no one would need to hold protests once its government was formed, a claim, they said, had proved completely false. Leaders added that, if the Speaker did not come out of his house to receive their memorandum of demands, they would paste it outside his residence to register their protest.
