Pen-down strike hits work in Mohali offices

Mohali, June 23

Work at various government offices in Mohali was hampered as employees of the state government departments, including the DC office, tehsil office, sub-tehsil office, PSEB, panchayats, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, went on five-day pen-down strike and protested the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, which have been approved by the state government.

The employees are protesting the formula used to calculate the pay hike. They criticised the cutting down of their allowances such as conveyance allowance, city compensatory allowance and house rent allowance by the commission.

The Joint Employees Forum, Punjab and Chandigarh and the Punjab School Education Board Employees Association also went on strike. President of Punjab School Education Board Employees Association Parvinder Singh Khangura and general secretary Sukhchain Singh Saini said: “The employees did no work. A union leader of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Deepinder Singh Sandhu, said: ‘’The strike will continue for five days and a state body will be formed which will chalk out the next strategy.”

Meanwhile, the unemployed steno-typists union held a protest outside the Punjab Forest Complex in Sector 68.

BDPOs meet Chief Principal Secretary

Representatives of the Block Development and Panchayat Officers Association, Punjab, met Suresh Kumar, Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Punjab, and apprised him of their long-standing demand of restoring the pay scales granted to BDPOs in 1993 along with four-grade pay structure under the dynamic assured career progression. They also raised the issue of the 6th pay commission. ‘’The association expressed its resentment for non-acceptance of its pending demand. The association resolved to call a meeting on Monday to declare the next course of action to be taken to pursue their demand,’’ the representatives said. — TNS